After falling just shy of winning districts, the softball team is back and raring to go.

Getting second place in Districts is a great accomplishment in and of itself, but the team is most proud of its victory over Francis Howell to knock them out of the tournament.

Senior Haley Allen goes more in depth into their win.

“We were down to start but we came back and rallied and won,” said Allen. “It just felt amazing to knock them out because they’re our rival and because they beat us twice before.”

Both games they played against the Vikings were close games, so it only took one last push to put the Spartans on top.

“It just felt great to finally beat them,” Allen said.

According to Allen, there is no doubt that the team can beat Howell again this year.

The Spartan softball team is ready to go.

The team is stacked with nothing but talented players. The team currently has nine seniors, making for an experienced team plus the other veteran varsity players. There are also four freshman players.

Senior Alyssa Mathis believes the team is better than it’s ever been.

“Last year compared to the year before was a total jump,” Mathis said “I think this year will probably be the best year we have had in a long time.”

Coach Brian Cissell also believes the plethora of seniors this year will be a big asset.

“With nine seniors we can do things now that we couldn’t do two years ago,” Cissell said. “There are different levels of the game and we’re at the deeper levels now.

Each individual on the team is also learning new techniques to help them in the game, such as switch hitting and drag bunting.

Besides each player learning new skills, the team also has gained a number of switch hitters, which will help against any kind of pitcher the team may face throughout the season.

Allen said that in the past, the team struggled with the outfield positions, but due to the abundance of talented players, it won’t be a problem.

“This year we have a lot of girls that can play a lot of different positions,” she said.

First game is August 22 in the Troy tournament, where the team hopes to start their season off strong.