FREMONT – Talk about your bittersweet ironies.
The Fremont Ross softball team did not want the season to end. Yet, with the strong game the Lady Giants played Tuesday, they wound up ending their season two innings sooner than scheduled, in a five-inning, 15-0 victory over cross-town rival St. Joseph Central Catholic.
The Lady Giants closed the season on a high-note, winning their final three games and scoring 58 runs in the process.
“We hit really well the last three games,” coach Tony Hill said. “Obviously, we would have liked to have made a little deeper run in the tournament but we were dealt a really tough hand there. We responded quite well. We scored (58) runs in our last three games. I’ll take that average.”
After a pair of scoreless innings to begin the game, Ross broke the game open with an eight-run third inning. Three more followed in the third and the countdown to end of the season was on.
Hill told his seniors he’d pull them out of the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, allowing them one last moment of appreciation as they came off the field for the final time.
“They kept it in check until about the fourth inning then they realized (it was almost over),” Hill said. “Morgan (Englund) asked if they could finish off the game the way we were going but I said ‘I really want to give you this moment. When you look back on it you’ll appreciate it and one third of an inning isn’t going to make a difference.’
“There were tears in a the fourth and a bunch in the fifth,” he added.
Eight seniors played their final game in a Ross uniform, Addie Burmeister, Englund, Braelyn Horn, Claire Ochs, Paige Risch, Laura Syzmanowski, Hailey Taylor and Gabby Zuniga.
“We’re thankful for the seniors and proud of them,” Hill said. “It’s one of those things, they’ll be greatly missed but hopefully, in five to 10 years, we’ll look back on this and (say) that they’re the class that turned it around.”
Risch went 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs in her final game, Ochs drove in three runs and Englund, who drove in a pair of runs, pitched a stellar game, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out seven in earning the shutout victory. Kayla Rich hit a solo home run.
The Lady Giants complete the season with a 10-16 record. Though Ross experienced a notable rough patch in the middle of the season, Hill is glad is team came through its challenges stronger for having gone through them.
“Honestly, if we didn’t have that game against Central Catholic, things would have gotten a lot worse,” Hill said. “We really came together after that, we had hardly any back-and-forth and the girls kind of bonded, it was one of those trial-by-fire kind of things. Our season could have been completely lost after that, but we ended up winning seven or eight games from that point forward.”
Hill believes the Lady Giants should be proud of what they accomplished and have set the table for future success.
“We won two more games in (playing) two fewer games than we did last season. Batting average, we’re up almost 70 points, our fielding percentage is up 40 points. RBIs, home runs – we hit two more than we did last year, which isn’t a huge number but the year before I got here I think they hit two as a team, then five and hit seven this year.
“Everything is trending up. Granted, we have a ton of senior talent we have to replace, which will be difficult, but it speaks to the younger kids in the program that if they buy in they can have the same success, if not more.”
2024 Softball: JV Team
| Player# | Player Name | Position | Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Morgan Batey | Utility | 10 |
| 8 | Reagan Smith | /C/3B | 10 |
| 11 | Cammie Gibson | OF | 09 |
| 12 | Jersey Smith | Utility | 10 |
| 17 | Alexis Seamon | Utility | 11 |
| 18 | Amaya Grine | P/INF | 10 |
| 19 | Olivia Anstead | P/INF | 10 |
| 21 | Makaela Finley | 1B | 10 |
| 23 | Karsen Rau | 2B/OF | 11 |
| 26 | Sam Walker | INF | 09 |
| 29 | Amber Medina-Casanova | OF | 09 |
| 32 | Paige Wott | 1B | 09 |