Birmingham Community Charter High School has been known for having a successful sports program over the past decade, and their varsity softball team looks to continue the trend.

“We plan on getting more well-earned wins this season,” senior Genevieve Avalos said. “We are a better and smarter team than last year. We have more power with hitting and our defense is pretty solid.”

This season, the Lady Patriots hold a league record of 1-3 and an overall record of 7-2, which is a huge improvement from last season. They have a key element that most teams in the valley do not possess, which is having seasoned veterans on the team that has been through the rigors and struggles of the season before. These players, such as Avalos, have the ability to help the younger players on the team, especially when it comes time for city and state playoffs.

Along with improving drastically as a team, each player on this team has worked hard to improve individually in hopes of achieving a city championship this season. Avalos, for example, has worked on and improved multiple skills she knows could help herself and her team this season.

“This year, I am focusing on hitting away on the left side rather than slapping,” Avalos said. “I have become versatile with both slapping and hitting away, and I plan to use those skills more often this season.”

Avalos also said that her teammates have improved and gained a tremendous amount of skill and confidence this season.

“A lot of my teammates have improved their hitting to near perfection,” Avalos said.  

Despite their abundance of seniors, there are also some younger players that have proven that they can step up and help this team win. Freshman Emily Flores is a prime example of one of these players. She has played well and learned a significant amount from seniors such as Avalos.

“I have improved this year by being smart,” Flores said. “I also improved by communicating with the older girls on how to play high school ball and look for areas where I could do better since I’m the only freshman on the team.”