SKYLER CHUN
STAFF WRITER
Moanalua High School’s Junior Varsity Softball Team may have finished their season with a 3-8 record, but they are still proud of what the team was able to accomplish throughout this season. Multiple players on the team suffered injuries, some even serious enough to end their season. These challenges tested the team’s strength and resilience. At the beginning of the season, about 13 girls were on the team. However by the end, only 8 were left on the roster due to numerous injuries, from fractured fingers to pain in multiple body parts. A softball team needs a minimum of 9 players to fill all positions on the field.
Dane Canida, the JV Softball coach explained how this season has been a struggle for the team.
“This year was a challenging year because we didn’t start with a large roster and a lot of them were new to the sport. But once we got up to 13 girls, our catcher hurt her knee, one girl got a concussion, and another fractured her thumb.”
Sophomore Jazzmin White was the player who fractured her thumb this season. On the day of a double header, White got beamed by a pitcher on an inside pitch, but instead of sitting out the rest of the game, White taped her thumb and continued to play, thinking the injury was not serious. She checked on her thumb after the game only to find that it had been fractured in two places and she would have to wear a cast for three weeks, leaving her out for the rest of the season.
“I was really upset about [my injury], but I kept my head up and was glad that I wasn’t hurt worse. Also, at least I’d be ready in time for varsity season! I still go to games and practices even though I can’t do much,” White said.
White was just one of several girls on the team who faced painful hardships. However, the girls who were fortunate enough to remain uninjured faced setbacks in other ways.
Cierra Yamamoto, a freshman on the JV softball team explained the hardships on behalf of the girls who were not hurt.
“I wasn’t injured, but having a lot of girls out was pretty hard on me and the others who weren’t because we had to play in new positions that we weren’t comfortable in. Usually you play softball with 9 players on the field, but there were so many people out that we had to play with only 8. The girls in the outfield had to work hard with only two of them,” Yamamoto explained.
“Just to have these girls win a couple games and show that they could do it was a big accomplishment,” Canida said.
Although this was not a ideal season for any of the players, their hard work and dedication through all of their hardships is one to be remembered.