The goals for the NS Softball team seem to be simple in writing, take home region and compete at the final day of state. However, these goals

are far from simple for the team. In order to achieve these goals, the team has to put in effort during and outside of practice. The continued efforts of the team have resulted in their current season record of 17-3, leading them to their current ranking of second in the 3A division and second in region 13.

“This team actually reminds me a lot of those couple of teams where we took second or third at state,” head coach Landon Bailey said. “We

have good hitters all throughout the lineup, you know, that's what good teams are.”

In addition to the teams rankings, some of the girls are in the 3A state division leaderboards for different aspects of softball. Junior Rylee

Stewart is ranked first in home runs with 12. Stewart hopes to break the school record of home runs hit in a season, which she is currently tied with at 12. Sophomore pitcher Kaecee Johnson is in the top five for seven different stat categories, ranking first in wins.

“I feel like we get caught up in our own stats, our own performance, and I feel like to be successful and to win is to worry about your team and

put focus on your team,” Stewart said.

Success with the team has not come without difficulties. One of those challenges would be the looming presence of injuries. Last year, the

team had multiple season-ending injuries.

“[The worst part about being injured was] watching everyone play, and watching everyone have fun, and I just had to sit there,” said Johnson.

However, the injured players returned with their mind set on hard work in order to properly play with their team again.

“The last few years we've had a few unlucky injuries, and we’ve had a few that have had to come back, but they’re doing really well,” Bailey said.

Another difficulty the team has faced has been losing three games, one being against a team in their region. These instances have made their

goals seemingly harder to achieve.

“You can’t dwell on what happened, and I think that's what happens when we struggle. We worry about the last play or were worried about our

last loss, when I feel like we should, obviously, learn the lessons from the process,” Stewart said.

However, the team is not letting these losses affect their work ethic and are instead choosing to put their thoughts and effort into improving.

Many of the girls on the team work outside of practice in order to improve their skills. This can come in different forms, such as lifting weights or staying after practice to hit more balls. Whatever their method is, the hard work has not gone unnoticed.

“The thing that’s been really impressive with a lot of these girls is they stay after and put a lot of time in on their own,” Bailey said.

The team only has six games left excluding state, and one of those games will be the rematch against Union. If the team is able to pull through

and secure the win, their chances of achieving their goals and becoming more successful.

The team's current success can be attributed to their hard work inside and outside of practice while keeping the environment fun. In hopes of

achieving their goals, the girls are ready to face whatever obstacle may come before them next.