This is a three game week for the softball team. Conference play hasn’t gone their way so they’re hoping to improve their record this week.
On Monday, they played South Garner and had a near record-breaking win with 24 runs. They took down the Titans 24-9. Senior captain Sloane Kessler is the pitcher for the Gators and had her 200th strike out during this incredible win.
“In the moment I felt so accomplished and felt like my hard work over the four years paid off,” Kessler said. I celebrated for a minute in the circle with my teammates and then got back to the game!”
Being a captain, Kessler is a key leader on the team and getting this 200th strike out helped lead them to get the win against the Titans.
This win was a great confidence boost for the team as they went into their next game against Athens Drive on Wednesday. That confidence must have worked as they won 18-4 against the Jaguars, improving their record to 7-6 on the season
“These two big wins against South Garner and Athens give us the confidence and reassurance that we need going into the end of the season,” said Kessler.
Green Level plays Willow Spring on Friday. With a 15-1 record overall, and a top the Quad 7 City Conference with a 7-0 conference record, the Storm are one of the best teams in North Carolina. Last time the Gators faced the Storm they had an unfortunate 0-18 loss but with the two wins under their belt, they have the energy they need to get the win.
Kessler said, “Willow Spring is one of the best teams in the state, but we’ve been preparing all season on making adjustments needed and just playing our game on the field no matter who we’re playing.”
Junior Ashley Abramson also believes that they have a much better chance at getting the win this time. Despite not having their star pitcher for the game, Abramson still thinks that they can get the win.
“We have been practicing the whole season and throughout all the games we’ve played, we’ve seen that we have gotten better. Like the first time we played PC, we lost by a good amount, but then the second time we were only three runs away,” said Abramson.
The team wants to finish the week on a good note and prove to the rest of the conference that they can compete with these competitive teams and will be able to get far in the playoffs as well. They’re looking towards the rest of the season and looking towards making a deep run in the playoffs.
