Softball team strives for success on and off the field:
ASHLEY BIUNDO SPORTS EDITOR:
The STLCC Archers Softball team has a current record of 11-3, but the team is looking to continue even stronger, according to Head Coach Kristi Swiderski. Swiderski said that she has high expectations for the rest of the season. “My expectation is for us to go to nationals,” said Swiderski. “We ‘ve got pitching, we’ve got the hitting, we’ve got defense, we’ve got the whole package. So I fully expect us to make it.” Half way through the season, the softball team has figured out their strengths and weaknesses, said Swiderski. “Our pitching and our hitting are our [strengths]. We can hit the ball over the fence. And our pitching, we have six pitchers so if one girl is off, one of them is going to be on. The flexibility to be able to use multiple people to win a game is huge for us,” she said. One of the weakness that they are working on is team speed, Swiderski said. “We’ve got a lot of big strong girls that can hit the ball over the fence but obviously that comes along, you know you’re giving up team speed around the bases,” she said. Although softball is important on the field, education is important off the field, said Swiderski. “Education always comes first. There is going to be a point in time where you can’t play softball anymore, so your education has to come first,” said Swiderski. The coaches expect a lot from the girls when it comes to their school work, she said. Swiderski said she expects them to be good students. “Study hard. There is no excuse. There is so much help at Meramec, with all the tutoring, there is no reason that they can’t succeed in the classroom, as well on the softball field,” Swiderski said. “When it comes to softball, go hard, play hard all the way through from start to finish. We got the girls that have that mentality. They can and they will do that.”
