Sophomore J.J. Francis picked up two wins when the Racers took on St. Catherine Sunday.
The softball team started its fall season strong with a pair of wins against St. Catherine at the new Racer Field.
Head Coach Kara Amundson said this fall season is a good way to warm up for the team’s regular season in the spring.
“It’s just a chance for us to get out there and kind of show what we’ve been working on over the past couple weeks,” Amundson said. “It gives a chance for our freshmen to get out there and compete at the college level a little bit and just really let the coaching staff evaluate what we have.”
Although Amundson said she is excited for the team’s early success, she is not taking the wins too heavily at the moment.
“It’s a good, early test for us,” she said. “We still have a lot of things we need to work on, but a lot of really good things happened for our first time out.”
Amundson said one of the best things that happened on the field against St. Catherine was the pitchers getting ahead in the count and attacking the batters early on.
She also said she saw improvement offensively from the first game of the doubleheader to the second game.
Up next for the team is the Saluki Round Robin Tournament, where the Racers will face St. Louis and John A. Logan College.
Amundson said the team is working hard in practice to prepare for the tournament.
“We’re just continuing to see a lot of live pitching and continuing to see a lot of situational stuff to keep us ready for our game,” Amundson said.
Because the fall season is a trial run for the Racers, Amundson said she is focusing on the big picture.
“I’m not really worried about wins and losses,” Amundson said. “I’m much more worried about our team going out there and competing at every single pitch, whether it’s offensively or defensively. If we compete every pitch, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win not just now, but when it really matters during our regular season in the spring.”
Amundson said she does not do anything special to motivate the team. She said she wants them to stay focused and relaxed.
“Softball is an awesome sport, but there are so many things in the world that are bigger than it,” she said. “So I think it’s important to humble ourselves at the fact that we get an opportunity to be out there every day and do something that we love.”
Story by Taylor Crum, Assistant Sports Editor