The new game in town; Lady Wolves build skills, team’s foundation in first ever softball season

The Lady Wolves in the home field dugout between innings.

By Dymond Taylor

The ping of the bat. The thwack of a ball hitting a mitt. The shout of an umpire calling balls and strikes and outs. These are familiar sounds to many MSA students who are used to watching the boys team play baseball.

But for the first time, those same sounds are coming from the softball diamond on the west side of the school building. They are the sounds of MSA’s first high school girls 12-inch softball team, a group now nearing the end of its inaugural season.

The team is made up of 13 girls from every grade in the high school and is coached by MSA teachers Meredith Parker and Sima Faik. The team finished its season last week with a home game loss on May 2. In seven games, the Lady Wolves went 1-6 this spring.

Ms. Parker said she wanted to coach MSA’s first girls softball team because of her previous experience coaching the middle school 16-inch softball team last year. Parker also coaches the middle school girls basketball team, and she was interested in coaching at the high school level.

Dymond Taylor delivers a pitch.

With the addition of the softball team, MSA girls now have four different interscholastic teams they can participate in. In addition to track, which is another spring sport, MSA girls can play basketball or volleyball during the winter.

When talking to Coach Parker about the softball team, she stated that the team needs to improve in their baserunning knowledge, becoming more aggressive defensively, and accurately throwing the ball.

“We need to improve backing up our infielders and paying attention after the first throw, recognizing opportunities for double plays or stopping the advancement of unnecessary runners,” Parker also added.

Players have different reasons for wanting to participate in the team.

Antonique Brown singles to left.

Freshman Moriah Scott said she joined the softball team to have fun and put her athletic skills to the test.

“I like to be athletic and softball is fun,” Scott said. “I used to play softball about three years ago, too.”

Sophomore Dominique Miller said she joined the team in order to get more exercise.

“I have a nutritionist and she told me I have to be more active so I thought softball would be a good try,” Miller said.

This is the first time Miller has played a sport and she has enjoyed participating this spring.

“I think its a pretty good experience,” she said. “I’ve never really done a sport before so it’s nice to be on a team.”

Swing and a miss. 

Junior Deja Swint said softball is a good stress reliever.

“I did it because it was a way for me to express my feelings,” Swint said.

Derikesha Brockman, who is the only senior starter on the softball team, said she had played the game earlier in her school career and was glad to have a chance to get back on the field. “I did play in middle school so I wanted to do it again,” she said.

Brockman said she has seen the team improve throughout the season. “For us to be doing it for our first year, we improved and were actually kind of good,” she said.

Parker said she agrees that the team is getting better.

“I am extremely proud of the improvement the team has shown after each game and practice,” she said. “We have a long way to go, but when we step out on the field we look and play like softball players.”