The Lady Kings had a memorable season last year winning sectionals. They ended their season with seven wins and twenty-one losses. Although the numbers may be a little lower on the winning side the Lady Kings still had major success in their season. The Lady Kings have a fresh start this season with a new conference, The Three-Rivers.
Head Coach, Matt Hubner, was asked what his expectations were for this season, and he said, “Our Expectations for the season are the same as they were last season. Grow as individuals first and play fundamentally sound softball. We concentrate on fundamentals first and foremost and that’s a big reason we were sectional champions and 1-run from being regional champs. We expect to be back at regionals again this season. “ Senior, Aliysia Zamora, was also asked what her expectations were, “My expectation for my senior year is to hit more home runs than I did last year. The feeling when I hit a home run is great.”
Due to the graduating seniors leaving last season, Coach Hubner was asked how the impact of last year’s seniors will leave this year’s team, and he said, “Our seniors last year were a huge part of our success but also a huge part of the knowledge the girls have coming into this season and what to expect. The seniors we lost will leave a hole in the team, but I think we have some freshmen coming in that can and will start filling those gaps quickly.” Junior, Kaitlyn Benner was also asked how the impact of last year’s seniors will impact this season, and she said, “I think that the season will change because we have some big shoes to fill after last year’s seniors. I also think that this season one thing that will change is our outfield because that is where we had some strong seniors playing last year.”
This year there are two seniors; Heta Kosunen and Alisyia Zamora playing this year. Heta was a basketball star this year and has helped her basketball team become so successful this year. Heta is a great athlete and also helped her junior varsity volleyball team have success this year. Heta was asked if she ever played softball, and she said, “No, I have never played softball before.” Because she has no prior experience she was asked if she thinks playing softball will be challenging for her, “Yes, it will definitely be a challenge playing a sport I have not played before. Learning all the rules of softball makes me very nervous.” Heta was also asked what position she would like to play, and she said, “I would like to play any position, except for the pitcher and catcher.”
The Lady Kings have big shoes to fill losing some of their star players from last year, but they also have a great freshman group coming up and an incredible athletic foreign exchange student. The Lady Kings also get to start fresh with a new conference. Best of Luck to the Lady Kings softball team.
