By: Alexis Dalton
With their star pitcher out for the season, members of the Varsity Softball team have been forced to go outside of their comfort zones to get the team to where they are today.
According to head coach Perelini Bush, the girls are doing well this season, but they ran into a problem: One of their top pitchers, Peyton Kanaly, had a torn hip labrum and had to go through surgery. Because of this, a lot of players have stepped into positions they wouldn’t usually be playing.
Even with this setback, the girls persisted. According to Coach Bush and senior Allie Ohde, Ava Vinci, who was the starting center-fielder, stepped up to play pitcher along with right-fielder Ana Gore and third-baseman Maura McBreen.
Another setback that the team faced was the obvious, COVID. “We had to adjust as it came,” says Coach Bush. A new rule had to be set that if a team had any COVID-related problems, they would have to forfeit. Since the team is only given a certain number of games they are allowed to play, this rule “interrupted chances of them competing.” Thankfully, only one game had to be canceled due to COVID issues on the opposing team.
Practices didn’t change much either, according to “Allie Ohde. “We practice outside,” she said, “so it is safe to play without a mask.”
When I asked Allie if the team had struggled with anything this season, she thought about it for a few seconds. “We struggled to find a purpose,” she says. At the start of the season when the girls got the news of Peyton’s injury and new COVID protocols, they were slightly discouraged. Nevertheless, they persisted, and now they are “doing it for each other.”
So far, the season stats have been positive. When I talked to Coach Bush on September 13, they were ranked fourth in their region. The girls recently run-ruled South Atlanta High School with a score of 16-1. They will continue to have weekly games for the duration of the season. The first round of playoffs is Tuesday, October 12, and the opposing team is to be determined.
When interviewing both Allie and Coach Bush, I frequently heard how the team’s offense is very strong. “If you were to ask who we were as a team we are definitely a power-hitting team,” Coach Bush proudly says. “Usually, the best hitters are the teams three, four, and five hitters [on the lineup], but on this team, one through nine are all pretty sound.” Some of the top hitters on the team include sophomores Ana Gore and Maggie Tucker, junior Ava Vinci, and seniors Allie Ohde and Maura McBreen.
Coach Bush believes all of these heavy hitters are essential. “We have to place a lot of runs for insurance,” she said. “A lot of games you’ll see are high-scored games, but they might be tight.”
This season the team is senior-heavy. Around half of the players are seniors and “veterans of softball.” The seniors are role models to the underclassmen and they always provide help and support to their teammates.
This year, four seniors are committed to colleges to “play ball.” Maura McBreen recently committed to Villanova, Logan Easterly committed to NYU, and Allie Ohdie and Peyton Kanaly committed to Dartmouth.
The girls will continue on with their season after winning one of three games at Chattanooga this past weekend. If you are free on a weekday at 5:30, be sure to stop by the Brooks field to see the 2021 Varsity Softball team in action.
