Ryan Paris
Student Sports Media
It’s that time of year again, when basketball season is getting ready to wind down, and baseball and softball is starting up. This year, the Butler Grizzlies’ softball team has one goal in mind, and that is to build off their championship-winning season last year and try to do the same this year.
Butler is always known to have a very strong softball team, but it will not necessarily be easy to have a repeat this year. Several key players from last year’s team have graduated and moved on to other schools, most notably Becca Schulte, and workhorse pitcher Reagan Mergele. The pressure is on them to try to outplay last year’s team, which they only experienced one loss the whole season.
They have already lost two games so far this year, both of those losses coming in Texas to North Central Texas College and Vernon College. However, they still own a respectable 7-2 record so far on the season.
Next on the schedule for them is a visit to Kansas to take on Barton, their only in-conference match-up in the month of February, before they play Dodge City in the usual double-header on Monday, March 6 here.
This part of the schedule can certainly be grueling, especially going back and forth between Texas and Kansas, but every team knows that with a season, there will always be peaks and valleys to try to overcome. It is also important to know that there is still a lot of season left.
Head Coach Doug Chance and his team will have a tall order ahead of them with pressure on to play up to the level they did last year, but the one thing they surely have on their side is confidence. They know they are a good team and are capable of putting together a fine season, but there are no givens in any sport, and you must play the games before you get bragging rights.
They have eight more road games, six of those in Texas, before they finally return home to play Dodge City on Monday, March 6.