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The Tri-Village 5th and 6th grade girls softball team
celebrates after winning a double
elimination tournament recently in
Arcanum. Submitted photo.
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Young Patriot team learns lesson in teamwork
Team effort produces team attitudes
By George Starks
NEW MADISON- It was a valuable lesson in teamwork.
With its back against the wall, the Tri-Village 5th and 6th grade
softball team did what some might have thought to be the impossible.
After losing to the Greenville III team in a double elimination
tournament just over a week ago, 7-6, the young Lady Patriots dropped
into the losers bracket. That's when attitude and intestinal fortitude
kicked in.
Facing the monumental task of beating the team twice that beat them earlier, the odds weren't in their favor.
Impossible was a word that wasn't in the Patriots vocabulary.
Tri-Village did exactly what it was supposed to do. The young ones won
two straight over the team that put them in that near impossible
situation.
With the help of timely hitting, good pitching and solid defense, the
Pats posted 6-3, 8-7 victories and won the championship title.
It was just a year ago when Casey Lewis, then a 5th grader, was on a
team that couldn't win a game. Now it's all come full circle for her.
"We didn't win a game last year and this year, we won almost every
game. It's a great feeling to be able to do that," said Lewis. "As a
team, when we lost the first game to the Greenville team, we knew we
could win this. The attitude of the team was positive and we played
like a team. It was never about just one person, it was about everyone
on the team. Our coach (Kent Burk) talked about the team. He told us
when we win, we win as a team and when we lose, we lose as a team."
When Tri-Village lost its only game during the season, 11-9, Lewis said it started something for the team.
"There was some of us that was away when we lost that game," Lewis
pointed out. "That loss was a wake up call for us. We were all very
upset over that loss. I was at basketball camp when we played that
game. The loss at the tournament upset me more than the first loss. As
a team, we pulled together and beat them twice. It showed us what we
were made of. We played like a team is supposed to play. We pulled
together."
Along with Casey was her twin sister, Katelynn who didn't play a year ago.
"Last year I wanted to take a one year break and I decided to get back
into it," said Katelynn Lewis. "It was nice to play with my sister. I
was very happy to be on the same team with her. I think it brought us
closer together as sisters."
"This was a great group of girls," added Katelynn. "Even though I was
injured and not able to play later in the tournament, I felt the same
excitement when the team won it all. It was an awesome feeling. I
sprained my knee sliding into third against Eldorado. I thought I could
still play but the more I walked on it, the more it hurt so I couldn't
play anymore. I still wanted to play."
As any coach will tell you, offense wins games, defense wins championships.
Such was the case when Patriots third baseman, Aereonna Baker, leaped
high into the air and snagged a shot that was sure to score two runs
for Greenville. It was a game winning play as Baker recorded the third
out and gave Tri-Village the championship.
"Defense is very important to me," said Baker. "I couldn't believe I
made that catch. I don’t think I knew I had it until I looked in my
glove and the ball was there. I was shocked I actually caught it. I
didn't know I could jump that high. I was so excited."
Now, Baker knows the importance of defense.
"Stressing defense to the rest of the team is important because it make a difference in the end," said Baker.
Baker also talked about one other thing.
"Communication is very important,", added Baker. "As a team we
communicate well with each other. I try to encourage my teammates. I
tell them it don't matter what others say about you. I tell them not to
let things get to them. When we lost the game to Greenville some of the
girls were upset. I told them we have to go out and do our best. We did
what we had to do as a team won the championship. Finishing second
wasn’t good enough."
One of the biggest keys to winning softball is pitching. The majority
of the pitching duties fell on the shoulders of Elizabeth Poling. Every
play started in the circle when Poling toed on the rubber.
"I know when I'm out there, I have to focus," said Poling. "I know I
have to pitch well because I have to give the team in the field every
chance to make good plays. It was a good feeling to help have a good
season and to help turn things around from a year ago. It's a good
feeling to be a part of a winning team. It wasn't just about me but the
whole team."
Over the course of time, Poling, a 5th grader, has developed a change up, a riseball and a curve ball.
"My dad works with me and helps make me better," Poling stated. "I
think it's because of him that I'm able to do what I do now. I think
that helped my confidence when we had to play Greenville twice. I felt
like I was at my best in those two games."
With practice and hard work, Poling added one more thing.
"I really would like to see this team in high school possibly go to the state."
That is still a few years away but who knows.
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