The softball team opened its season with a revenge game against Sherwood March 18. Last season, Sherwood ended CHS’ season with a 12-0 first round playoff win.

The team that struggled throughout last season, with offense as its weakness, hopes this year will be a more successful season.

“We had a really strong, talented team,” senior Emma Trachman said. “However we were unable to keep it together under pressure during the games and our hard work from practice didn’t show. We had a really strong defense, but our batting was not as strong as it could have been.”

To improve upon last year’s offensive struggles, many team members spent the offseason attending camps and clinics to develop better habits this year.

“We go to the cages every Sunday with [coach Mike] April and work on batting,” junior Megan O’Lone said. “The pitchers and catchers are in a weekly class in the offseason to keep in shape.”

According to Trachman, the workouts helped bring the team together and improve team chemistry, which is something that will be a large factor for them this season.“This team will have better chemistry [than last year’s],” head coach James Collins said. “[We] can win more games.”

Even with improved bats, the team will still play to its strengths which are fielding and pitching.

“I would like to just throw strikes and let them hit,” O’Lone said. “It’s okay if they [hit it] because I have a really solid field behind me.”

For the Bulldogs, the main goal of this season will be to improve upon last year’s record by playing better as a team and end with a winning record.

“I think that Churchill softball should be able to come out of this season with a winning record, the more wins the better, obviously,” O’Lone said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work to be able to compete with those upper county teams like Clarksburg and Sherwood, but we are looking really good this year so anything is possible.”

For the Bulldogs, last year was a disappointment, but this year we should see a strong turnaround and elevate CHS softball to the next level.

“Churchill softball is definitely going to become a team to be reckoned with,” Trachman said.