Panthers ‘excited’ for second-ever softball season
The Rugby Panthers readied themselves for their second-ever season of softball two weeks before their season opener against the Central McLean High School Tigers on April 5.
Coach Miriah Yoder said the team, whose inaugural season record brought them to regionals, was “excited to get started for another year.
“For a first-year program, going seven and eight in one of our post-season games – that’s huge for a first-year program,” Yoder said.
“We’re returning a lot of girls this year. Some younger girls are stepping up to replace players we lost either to injury or graduation last year. So, yeah, the girls are excited,” she added.
“I think we’ll be really competitive with a lot of our teams and our girls will have some experience bringing that back,” she said. “I think just them getting used to the caliber of teams that are in our sub-region is huge, so we can look to be even more competitive than we were last year.”
Results from the Panthers’ home opener on April 8 against the Bishop Ryan Lions will appear in the April 16 edition.