After entering district play, the Cedar Park varsity softball team stands at a 6-15 record for the season. At the next home game on March 28, the girls will face Rouse.

Midway through the season, sophomore Maddison Bretz hopes that the team will improve through the final game of playoffs.

“The beginning of the season was rough,” said Bretz, who is playing her first season with the team after moving from Nebraska in August. “We’ve been improving a lot and hopefully we’ll be able to pull out in the end.”

Coach Cami Jenschke attributes the team’s performance this season to a handful of unlucky games.

“It’s been a frustrating season because many of our losses were one-run losses,” Jenschke said. “We have a hard time putting games together. Either we start off well and fizzle out, or we surge late and run out of time.”

This year’s varsity team includes one senior and four juniors. The rest of the team is comprised of underclassmen, making the team young compared to other schools and past Timberwolf teams.

“All in all, this is the youngest varsity team we’ve had,” Jenschke said. “We only have five upperclassmen, but we’re also young in the sense that only two returning players have had real varsity experience.”

To counter their shortage of players and experience, the girls get excited before games by praying together and doing a progressive clap and Lady T-wolf chant as a pre-game ritual. According to junior Kaitlyn Spohrer, during the games, walk-out songs add a personalized touch to the excitement.

“Getting announced really pumps me up,” Spohrer said. “If you have a good walk-out song, it’s really exciting.”

Spohrer, who will be playing for Idaho State after graduation in 2015, also has college play to get excited for.

“I’m most excited about being able to keep playing,” Spohrer said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to play for four more years, because some girls don’t get that opportunity and they miss playing softball after they graduate.”

This year, only the sole senior Ashley Schrott will be leaving the team to graduate. Jenschke anticipates that the majority of the players will return, which will be an advantage for the team next season.

“I expect next year to be better because our players will have more experience,” Jenschke said.