Sophomore Rachel Bullock, a junior varsity left fielder for the Patriots, reached out her gloved hand to catch the softball whirling towards her, practicing for the tough matches she and her team will face this season.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” Bullock said. “We haven’t lost too many games yet but we keep making errors that we have to fix.”

The Birmingham Community Charter High School’s Patriots softball team has started their preseason strong: varsity with a record of eight wins and three losses and junior varsity with five wins and two losses.

Varsity’s preseason started on Feb. 27, playing in some neutral tournament games against Bishop Alemany High School and Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences. Their official season started on April 6, where they played their opening game against Chatsworth High School.

JV has only played seven games while varsity has played 13. Ten of the 13 games for varsity have been neutral tournament games, JV having only played three.

JV has had big games playing against opponents like James Monroe High School, Heritage Christian School and John H. Francis Polytechnic High School. Their best match was played against Ulysses S. Grant High School, where they had a blowout game of 51-9.

“We know how to pull through when we’re not doing our best and we know what we need to do,” sophomore Kamryne Blake, a junior varsity pitcher for the Patriots, said.

Communication has been key for this softball team, both for JV and varsity, helping them win games from behind and dominate on the field.

“We know how to communicate and that has really been one of our strengths for us and has helped us win a lot of games,” Blake said.

While the Patriots softball team has had a solid start, they are still learning how to play and win together as a team.

“If anything, we need to improve on being together as a team,” Blake said. “I feel like we need to support each other more and try to stay positive.”