Clarke Central High School varsity softball player Alyshia Sykes, a senior, is at bat against Johnson High School on Sept. 22, 2016. The 2017-18 CCHS softball season has gone underway and the team has high hopes to be a region 8-AAAAA competitor this season. “My expectations for the team is that we communicate better than last year because communication was our problem,” Sykes said. “Also, I hope that we can just keep the momentum up in the dugout and out on the field and keep each other up, no matter what.” Photo by Zoe Peterson.
The 2017-18 softball season, which is April Croft’s fourth season as head softball coach, is underway and the team has high hopes for the rest of the season.
The Clarke Central High School varsity softball team started its 2017-18 season off with a 10-1 win on Aug. 11 against Providence Christian Academy. In her fourth season as the head softball coach, April Croft will graduate her first set of seniors whom she has coached since their freshman year.
“This is my fourth season, so they should already know my expectations to grow every year and to improve every year, to communicate better, to have more responsibility and ultimately more leaders on the field,” Croft said.
The varsity team will graduate eight seniors this season: Nya Daniel, Mikaiah Derricotte, Elizabeth Gale, Maya Jones, Caroline Stewart, Alyshia Sykes, Kailan Willis and Ka’Nyla Thomas. Though the loss of seniors may affect the program in years to come, Croft feels she currently has an experienced team on her hands.
“The chemistry with the team is great. We all can have a laugh and have fun but get serious when we need to. We always have each other’s backs and we know each other,” varsity softball captain Alyshia Sykes, a senior, said. “We know when one is down and we know what to do to cheer them up, so I think our chemistry is really strong,”
Five teams out of region 8-AAAAA make playoffs. As a team, the girls made a goal to improve from last year and make the second round of the region tournament.
“We are going to have to step up big time if we want that to happen, because our region is really good, and so we could end up in the first round (or) we could not end up in the first round depending on how that situation goes,” Croft said.
With the season already under way, the CCHS varsity softball team has an overall record of 2-2 and a region 8-AAAAA record of 0-1.
“I just hope that this season is a season to remember and that we do what we know how to do and stay out of our head and just play the game like we know how to,” Sykes said.
