Lady Warriors softball learning on the fly

WORLAND — The young Worland Lady Warriors softball team took their lumps in their first games of the season in Cheyenne last weekend.

The Lady Warriors started the season with three straight losses competing at the Cheyenne Invitational on March 19, losing 21-2 vs. Cheyenne South, 15-0 to Wheatland and 23-0 vs. Cheyenne Central JV.

“The girls played their hearts out,” said WHS softball coach Crystal Redding. “We’re a young team; we’re mostly freshmen and sophomores. Then with the weather, we were on the field only once before playing those three games in one day. The girls fought through and didn’t give up. I was very proud of them.”

Redding continued, “Some of them are still learning. I told them after the game not to look at it as a defeat but as areas to improve upon. These are practice games that don’t count against our conference record. It’s about learning the game and having fun. They were tired at the end of the day, but their spirits were still good.”

The Lady Warriors have 18 players out this season, and with most of them new to the sport of softball, there will be a learning curve for the team.

But an encouraging sign for the Lady Warriors is that they’re picking up on what Redding and her staff are teaching them. With the weather finally cooperating, the team doesn’t have to practice indoors. Getting on the field this week for practice, many of the Lady Warriors were picking up the fundamentals of the game.

“We were going on our defense and offense at the same time, and a lot of the girls understood what we were talking about. Whether it was what to do on base or when the other team has base runners. It was great practice for the girls, and our new girls really learned a lot,” said Redding.

Much of the season will be spent teaching the game to the newcomers on the Lady Warriors. There will be struggles this season, but if the Lady Warriors can make gains in the fundamental aspect of the game while keeping their confidence high. This team will be much improved from last weekend.

“We did struggle with hitting. Some were rusty, and others are still learning. We have some girls who can pitch. One girl was scared when she took her first at-bat. She told me she didn’t realize that they threw that fast. Her eyes got big, and I told her she’ll be fine. She had a good solid hit, it went foul, but you could tell that she got more comfortable and confident at the plate from then on,” said Redding.

Worland has this weekend off and will use it to prepare for the March 29 game at Cody. Tuesday’s game is a conference game and an opportunity for the Lady Warriors to show how much they’ve improved from the season’s first three games.

“We’re still learning our positions. I’ve got a lot of girls who haven’t played before, so we’re working on the fundamentals of each position. Cody has some pretty hard hitters, so I’ve been telling my outfield to back up our infield. That way if a ball gets by them, we can hold the runners. Things like that are what we’re working on this week, so the girls are comfortable out on the field and know their responsibilities,” said Redding.

First pitch between Worland and Cody on March 29 is at 3:30 p.m.