No team is perfect, it’s just a fact. There is always something to improve on; however it’s the team’s ability to respond to adversity that deems their success’.

Although the Utica girls’ varsity softball team struggled at first, the team slowly improved their record as the season continued.

“We struggled at the beginning,” junior Ashley Michol said, “but we have come a long way since then.”

Practice makes perfect. The team had to put in all their effort in order to get the result they strived for. Now 5-1 in their league, all the hard work they have put in has finally paid off.

The team has bonded really well and knows how to pick each other up when they are down. With the right mentality, a team could really turn a season around.

“A lot of us knew each other, so it wasn’t that hard to get us all to bond,” junior Sami Torongeau said. “We just brought the freshmen and other new players under our wings and we’ve become quite the team.”

This strong team bond is needed in order to advance in districts. The level of play has become more intense as they come closer to their first district game.

“We saw who we had to play,” junior Jordan Bianchi said, “and we were focusing on how to beat them.”

With Chippewa Valley standing in their way for districts and the team splitting the season series 1 to 1, with the former being an extra innings victory over the Big Reds. The Chieftains hope to rekindle their past success against them in order to advance to the next round.

Overall the season has be filled with ups and downs, but in the end their hard work paid off.