Valley Softball looks to set the bar high and build on team unity

The+softball+team+warms+up+during+practice.+The+team+looks+to+build+through+their+newcomers+in+order+to+be+successful.

Ava Kim

The softball team warms up during practice. The team looks to build through their newcomers in order to be successful.

Head Coach: Lauren Bascik (7th year)

Key Returners: Kiara Selby (Sr.)(CF), Alexis Ban (Sr.)(1B), Ashley Diaz (So.)(C), Olivia Garcia (Sr.)(RF), Francesca Sanelli (Sr.)(DH), and Jenny Lewis (So.)(3B)

Key Newcomers: Alexandra Siller (Fr.) (P), Caliana Dembowski (Fr.) (3B), Maya Newell (Fr.) (2B), Ciara Dersimonian (Fr.) (LF)

Key Losses: Caitlin Scacchetti, Kara Moss, Jillian Sandt, Ava Battinelli, Alexandra Spadafino, Madison Silcher

Expectation of team: “[We] expect to make it far in the county and state tournaments,” Coach Bascik said. “I think we set the bar for ourselves, and we have the talent to do it.”

Strength of team: “The strength of our team is definitely our unity,” Bascik said. “We have a lot of good players who are in it for the team, and I think that team unity and positivity—plus the talent we have coming through from our seniors—is going to push us far.”

Weakness: “[Our weakness is our] lack of experience coming from the freshmen,” Bascik said. “They haven’t played at the varsity level yet. They’ve been doing well in the scrimmages, but [there] might be a little bit of growing pains until they get a couple [of] games under their belt.”