Highlighted by a trip to sunny Florida and finishing with a conference championship, the 2006 softball team had a tremendous season!
The Defenders had high hopes for this season and wanted to improve on their second place finish at the 2005 NEAC championship. To reach that goal, Coach Higley upgraded the schedule to help them improve throughout the season. There was no conference team that they did not believe they could beat. They also made a trip to Florida and participated in the Rebel Games against rank teams from across the country. Those two events mixed with lots of hard work and perseverance helped to lead them to the team’s first NEAC Championship.
Throughout the season, many lessons were learned by both coaches and players – patience, continual teaching and learning, perseverance during adversity, and the importance of using the act of playing softball as an act of worship toward our Savior. There were also several key games – wins against D’Youville and a loss against Keuka that helped the team refocus as they looked toward the remainder of the season.
The off-season will be filled with conditioning and playing. Two players are traveling to Asia to play on an elite team that will minister to international teams. Next year, most key starters are returning, and Coach Higley is excited about the recruits coming in. The conference will now also be eligible for an automatic qualifier for the NCAA post-season, and next year’s Defenders will aim for that goal.
To sum up the season, Higley stated, “All-in-all, it was a very good season. And through it all, God taught us some tremendous lessons about ourselves, and about how we should live, including playing softball, for His honor and purpose, all the time.”
