The Wednesday before spring break, our very own girls softball team won their first game in ten years against the new Rocktown High School. Led by seniors Alanna Oliver, Dior Dennis, Liat Randolph, Nora Hickey, and Reya Tamang, the Knights took the lead early in the game, tallying six runs in the top of the first inning.
However the early lead did not stop there. Freshman Ayden Johnson hit a home run in the second inning, followed by junior Kylee Gentry’s 3-run home run in the third inning. Although Rocktown was able to respond with one run in the bottom of the third inning, they could not stop the Knights’ dominant run. After the fifth inning, where the Knights scored their 16th run, the game was called due to the mercy rule.
“[The win] feels great,” says Liat Randolph (12), “the team has worked so hard for this.” As a senior who’s been on the team all four years of high school, Randolph has seen the ups and downs of the CHS Softball team. Her freshman year, she used to hear people joke that they were a varsity team that should have been playing JV teams. Since then, Randolph and the other seniors (most of whom were new to the sport as freshmen) have stuck with the team and seen their hard work pay off. “The fact that we’ve struggled so much and learned so much makes this first win feel even better, knowing how much we’ve worked and how much we’ve grown.”
Even though the team hasn’t achieved a winning season yet, they don’t want the rest of the school to count them out yet. “We’re putting in the work and we’re improving a lot,” says Ayden Johnson (9). Additionally, the team has arguably one of the best communities. “Coaches from other teams have always told us that [our spirit] was the most impressive part about our team; we could lose 10-0 or more and still cheer each other on and get happy about the good things,” says Randolph. “Even though we don’t win a lot of games, we’re still really positive, and we’re really supportive of each other,” Kylee Gentry (11) adds.
Looking towards the rest of the season, the team will continue to work hard and are hoping to add a few more wins to their record. The Knights will take on Fluvanna for their next game tonight; come out to support them at 6 pm!
