It all starts in March, well not quite. Let’s take it back to January, where captains practices just begin. New faces clutter into the gym, eager to meet the rest of the team and begin to work and work and work for the next 4 months. We head down the hall and down the stairs into the smelly weight room where we hear music blasting and execute a workout and lift plan for that night. After about an hour and a half, we all lay lifeless on the floor, groaning about how exhausted we are and giggling about how sore we are going to be the next day. We then head upstairs to hit and field to get some reps in and chat about the upcoming season. And then before you know it, March hits and hits hard--- literally. Snow fills the pavement and the turf as our team again piles into the gym, anxiously waiting for Coach Caserta’s arrival and his annual “first practice” speech. And then it’s go-time.

Practice is held six days a week, with Sunday off from March until the end of the season. We also travel to Orlando, Florida during St. Patrick’s day weekend for spring training, preparing for opening day which is hosted later in March. When the team arrives home, it’s right back to practice the following week. We work countless amounts of hours at Tisdale, our home field, or as we like to call it “The Field of Dreams” to prepare for each opponent we face during the season. We build friendships from this time, that by the end of the season feels like a sisterhood. You see, many people believe Ramsey softball has been so successful these past years because we have “very talented athletes” or we “get lucky”, however, they do not see how much work is put in behind closed doors. Yes, it is true that we have incredible athletes, but like Coach Caserta has always told us, talent can only take you so far. We sweat, cry, compete together, and push each other to our limits. We laugh and cherish moments together, especially because we know our seniors are departing very shortly. And most importantly, we pick each other up when the going gets tough. That is what makes us champions. Not the shiny plaques or big trophies (which are great, don’t get me wrong), but how we carry ourselves as individuals, how we compete for one another, and how we work in the off-season to have the best chances of success when the season comes back in full-swing the following year.

By Kaitlin Houser, Junior