Lady Archer softball comes away with a 2nd place finish in the region XVI tournament
By: SPENCER GLEASON
Sports Editor
After starting the season 3-14 in their first 17 games, the STLCC Lady Archers softball team found some momentum heading into the second half of the regular season. Going 9-7 in their final 16 games, the second half surge helped give the Lady Archers a 12-21 regular season record.
Although the Lady Arches finished nine games below a .500 winning percentage, STLCC was able to turn the page midway through their 2013 campaign.
“At the beginning we were kind of all over the place and by the end we figured out how to play together,” Lady Archers’ freshman pitcher Katie Harper said. “We figured out how to hit. We played for each other. Once we figured that out, we were really good.”
As they headed into the Regional XVI Tournament during the weekend of April 27-28, the Lady Archers took the No. 3 seed out of four teams. In the first round, STLCC split two games winning the first game, 10-6, against the No. 4 seeded Mineral Area College Cardinals. The second ballgame, the Lady Archers fell to the East Central College Falcons, 6-0.
The following day, the Lady Archers again outlasted the Cardinals, 8-6, but lost in the Region XVI Championship Title game, 12-2, to the Falcons. The Lady Archer softball season ended with a second place finish.
“We had played all of the teams in the tournament, so there wasn’t anybody new that we were going to play,” Harper said. “We knew what we were going into.”
Once the final out was made in the Region XVI Title game, the reflection of the 2013 season began. According to Harper, the camaraderie grew throughout the season.
“We were all friends and that helps,” Harper said. “It’s different in college because you have to stick together.”
In addition to the four sophomores, the 2013 team had nine freshmen to round out the 13-girl squad. After having a year of college softball under her belt, Harper found the intricate differences between high school and college ball.
“College is so much more intense than high school. In college you work on the tiny little things that you don’t do in high school. It takes just as much energy out of you,” Harper said. “In college, the coaches look at where I put my hand when I throw a curveball compared to high school, where they just want you to throw a strike. In college, you have to flip your hand harder and push harder.”
Aside from the wins and losses, the one thing Harper will take away from the 2013 season is the friendships. The Lady Archers teammates became a family away from family spending their free time together from August 2012 to this past Sunday.
“We were together pretty much every day,” Harper said. “It was fun.”
