Game of the Month: Varsity Softball vs. Mitty

With the seniors equipped to play their final home game, the Panthers went head to head with the Monarchs. The last season game before WCALs for softball ended 1-0 with Mitty stealing the only run of the game due to bad communication. After Mitty’s sneaky steal, the game’s energy kept rising all the way until the final seventh inning.
After the announcements of our beloved seniors, the starting lineup took to the field with JT Wozniak as catcher, Kayla Bose on first, Kendra Meadows on second, Karina Schneider covering shortstop, Briana Fujii on third and Raquel Rinauro taking to the pitcher’s mound.
The Panthers were the first to take the field. Rinauro rallied up two strike-outs as well as taking a grounder to the glove in order to pass to Bose on first to keep Mitty contained to their dugout. By the end of the 1st inning, the game was close at 0-0.
By the second inning, Briana Fujii made a stand out catch for the third out, one of many key plays that came. Kayla Bose was up to bat and made contact with the ball, hitting the softball to right field, rounding first and heading for second. She was caught up in a pickle between first and second and almost escaped the reaching hand of Mitty’s second baseman. Meadows was the second out almost making it to first, and Pizarro supplied Mitty with their third out to go into the third inning.
Mitty, known for stealing bases, found a way around the bases from a single. Running into home, Wozniak almost tagged her as the Monarch slid past, not even touching the base. As Rinauro and Wozniak went for a pep talk, Mitty went to touch the plate, scoring the only run of the game. “I was upset when I first realized that JT didn’t make the tag, but I knew the game wasn’t over yet and we still had a chance,” said senior Raquel Rinauro.
Krista Jensen caught a fly from right field and Schneider tagged a runner at second, changing the energy of the game. From that point, the Panthers kept trying to fight back with Fujii making three solid outs and Larissa Rinauro making the play of the game with a sliding catch at second, keeping Mitty away from home and scoring position. All Presentation could get were foul balls. Raquel Rinauro commented after the game, “Overall, the game went really well. We just couldn’t capitalize on their errors.” Players of the game include Briana Fujii and Karina Schneider. The Panthers will go to their CCS tournament this upcoming week.

Player of the Month of March: JT Wozniak

JT Wozniak. Everyone has heard of her. She’s that loud ASB officer with blond hair, who you can always hear as you’re walking down the hallways. It’s hard to believe that this is JT’s only second year here, and only her first time playing softball for Pres. JT went to Fremont High for her first two years of high school. She transferred here her junior year, and has become well-known throughout the school for her school spirit and hard work. As softball season is kicking in, The Voice decided to ask JT about her love for the game.

The Voice: How long have you been playing softball?

JT: I started playing T-ball, which is baseball, when I was 6 until about 8. Then I played for Bobby Sox, which is a recreational softball league, until I was ten. I’ve been playing competitive travel ball since then.

The Voice: What position do you play?

JT: Catcher

The Voice: Is this your favorite position, or do you prefer another?

JT: Oh, this is my favorite position. There’s just so much action, it’s the best.

The Voice: What do you mean by so much action?

JT: Because you get the ball at every play. The pitcher’s got to pitch it to someone.

The Voice: Do you have any favorite players/teams?

JT: Team USA, obviously! Also, Kaitlyn Lowe and Lauren Lappin.

The Voice: Who are these people?

JT: They are on team USA; Kaitlyn is from University of Arizona, and then Lauren Lappin went to Stanford.

The Voice: Why do you like them?

JT: They have great speed. Great base running. They are excellent defensive players.

The Voice: How have they inspired you?

JT: They pretty much inspired me to work hard and to train to be the best I can be. So I can be fast and agile, and everything like them.

The Voice: Have you ever met them?

JT: I’ve actually met Lauren Lappin. I have her autograph. She’s awesome.

The Voice: What is your goal this season?

JT: My personal goal is to improve my game in any way I can. Our team goal is to win CCS!

The Voice: How can you improve your game?

JT: Well, the main part of my game that I need to work on is my offensive game, so my hitting. By doing that, I would put in more hours and take more swings each week. Like go to the batting cage more. Waste more time when I should be doing homework.

The Voice: Why do you want to improve your game?

JT: O my goodness, because as an athlete, you can never settle. You always want to be the best you can be and be better than your opponents.

The Voice: Have you played any other sports?

JT: Yes. At Fremont High I played varsity volleyball, basketball, and softball. At Pres, I have been on the varsity swim team, and now softball.

The Voice: Is softball your favorite sport?

JT: Yes, yes, absolutely.

The Voice: Why?

JT: Okay well, I think partially it’s because I’ve been playing it for the longest. And also, there’s just something, I can’t really explain it, about winning a game. It just has to be a softball game. Nothing else. Like running onto the field, it’s just awesome.

The Voice: Do you feel that there is a difference between Pres softball and Fremont softball?

JT: Well, I just started, but I love the team here. It is much more intense, and we work so much harder.

The Voice: How many times do you practice?

JT: During the summer, for the travel team, I practice three to four times a week. And during the fall, about two times a week. For school though, I practice every day.

The Voice: How does the team look this year?

JT: Really, really good. We have a good preseason schedule. Hopefully we’ll make it to CCS. I know we will!

The Voice: How have you guys done so far in your games?

JT: It’s been great! Today [Thursday, March 04, 2010] we played Castelleja, and a typical softball game is 7 innings. Throughout the time, they held us to no runs, and we held them to no runs. It was 0-0, no one was winning; we went into an International Tie-breaker. We played all the way up until the bottom of the 10^th inning. We won 1-0. We were the home team, and we won! Boo-yah. We were screaming like chickens with our heads cut off! It was an insane moment.

The Voice: Who do you think will be the team’s toughest competitor this year?

JT: Mitty, of course!

The Voice: Why?

JT: There are two reasons. First, their team is filled with travel ball players, which means they have tons of more experience than the other teams we face. And they take the sport extremely seriously, they work really hard. They don’t have the losing mentality, they have the we’ll-win everytime-gonna-kick-your-butt mentality.

The Voice: And do you think we have that?

JT: We do, we do. But that’s why it’ll be the best match, because we’ll go head-to-head. Other teams don’t have that mentality. But we both have such a great desire to win, that when we go at it, it’ll be great.

The Voice: Have you thought about playing for college?

JT: Yes. I have been offered positions at various universities. But, I ultimately want to focus on school, and staying active. I am going to train for major triathlons. I want to become an anesthesiologist, but I also want to be a stay-at-home mom. So we’ll see wherever my path leads me.

The Voice: What colleges are you thinking about?

JT: I’m most likely going to go to college in the Mid-West; I really want to go to University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The Voice: Why Nebraska?

JT: Because it’s awesome, dude. I’m going there. You just can’t understand my love for the Mid-West. It’s amazing.

The Voice: What is the best thing about playing softball?

JT: Team cohesiveness, just working together with a group of people. The best thing is winning a game and celebrating with your team.

The Voice: How do you celebrate with your team?

JT: The best thing to celebrate is the bus ride home. Blasting the music, dancing around. Just celebrating and enjoying the time, that’s really the best way.

The Voice: What do you guys do for team bonding?

JT: We haven’t really done anything yet. But we’re probably going to have Pie Night. The night before every game, we go to one girl’s house. Her parents cook us dinner, and people will bring pie. And we just eat. We devour that stuff.

The Voice: How has playing softball shaped who you are?

JT: It has made me a competitive person. Also, it has given me the skills to talk to other people, to compromise, and to learn how to work with a team. Ultimately, it has given me leadership skills.

The Voice: Speaking of leadership skills, how do you balance being an ASB officer and playing softball?

JT: Very carefully! I keep in solid communication with the coaches and Mrs. Hernandez. I try to keep on top of things, and don’t let things pile up on me.