Page 162 - Clearwater Christian College 1997

Team Spirit Overcomes

the Scoreboard and a

Disappointing Season

The Lady Cougars' 0-18 record does

nothing to reflect their progress during the

season. Besides returning only three

players from last year and helping several

freshmen make the transition from high

school to college fastpitch softball, the

team also trained one player who had

never played before. Bumps and bruises

served as Joy Histand's initiation to the

world of fastpitch softball.

As a first-year coach of the Lady

Cougars softball team, Coach Hess made a

crucial decision to give Joy some playing

time in right field. She had been hit at

least ten times in practice while pursuing

fly balls, but Webber was batting every­

thing to left field, so the likelihood of her

contacting the ball seemed small.

But the unlikely became reality when

the next batter hit a long fly ball to Joy.

She wobbled around, trying to position

herself for the catch, and then snagged the

ball from the air. Holding it securely in

her glove, she raised her hands above her

head and bowed to the cheers of the crowd.

Despite the difficult season, Coach

Hess explained that the team maintained a

good spirit, aided especially by the ex­

amples of Stephanie Holland, Joanna

Hallock, and Roxanne Vignola. Reflecting

on the season, Coach Hess stated, "We've

established a core for the future."