USA Today’s week 8 national high school softball rankings contained a familiar name, Shenendehowa High School. The team was ranked 12th out of all high school softball teams in the nation, which is a huge accomplishment.
Shenendehowa softball has maintained a perfect record so far, going into the last part of the season 13-0, placing them 1st in section 2, and 2nd in the state. Although they still have to face a few difficult teams, this puts them in good standing.
Going to states last year has helped this team know what the expectations are and how they will accomplish their goals to get to the state finals again.
Senior Natalia Colone says that their experience last year has been a key factor to their success this year. “Our team bonding and chemistry is just so good that we can just focus on performing on the field and be able to trust everyone to play their role,” Colone says.
Captain Emily Baumes feels strongly about how close the team is, and how that has really helped them succeed. “Coming into the season we were all really comfortable with each other and knew each other well,” she says.
“Our hitting really drives the offense and Bre’s pitching locks down the defense,” Baumes says. “We are all going consistently 1 or 2 for 3 in the games.”
Although the season so far hasn’t been too challenging, they are expecting some tough competition as they are reaching their last few games. Guilderland, Burnt Hills and Shaker are going to put up a fight. Sophomore Quinn Farquharson personally feels that Burnt Hills is going to be the biggest competition because “they have good pitching and overall a very strong offense”.
Guilderland and Shaker are sitting in the #2 and #3 spots in the section. They both have “solid hitting and a strong defense,” Colone said. Last year Guilderland put up a good fight in the sectional semi-final so the team expects that close game again this year.
The team has high hopes that they will keep their momentum going to win the section finals. However, going further, Section 3 has proven to be a tough opponent in the past, and could certainly be a challenge again.
