THE SPORTS DESK
SOFTBALL NOTEPAD: Wildcats look much better this season
Just six games into the season Mountain View can already celebrate a drastic improvement over 2012.
The Wildcats (3–3) are coming off a one-victory year, and coach Beau Banglesdorf said the team has turned a corner—especially with its confidence.
“These girls can play,” the second-year coach said. “They just needed a little confidence. Last year it was like every game we were just waiting for the bomb to drop.”
Last year’s team started seven freshmen at times.
“We were in games, but I knew we were going to have growing pains,” Bangelsdorf said. “I feel like we should have won more games than we did.”
The coach has seen a difference in his team, especially in defeat. Mountain View opened its season by blowing a 5–1 lead in a 6–5 loss to Colonial Forge.
“After the game we were talking and the girls were really angry,” Banglesdorf said. “It wasn’t like, ‘oh here we go again.’ They were mad. They knew we gave that one away.”
The Wildcats picked up a district win against North Stafford and then went 2–2 last Friday and Saturday at the Franklin County tournament.
Mountain View beat Hylton and Liberty Christian Academy on Friday. They lost to tournament champion Franklin County and highly-regarded Halifax 2–0 on Saturday.
The Wildcats had the bases loaded with no outs in the final inning against Halifax, but couldn’t plate the tying runs.
“They’re really starting to get it,” Banglesdorf said. “If we can just believe in ourselves, we can do good things.”
