One pitcher, 10 players in total, no substitutes on the bench and no JV team. This is the current state of MVHS Varsity Girls Softball due to a low number of athletes trying out for the team.
The size of the team is a point of concern for Head Coach Ceazar Agront, who worries about its longevity. Agront explains the many different factors that have contributed to the low numbers, one of them being previous coaches setting up an old-fashioned culture for the team.
“There was a new coach before me and the culture changed,” Agront said. “His approach was pretty old school and not necessarily connected to the demographic and the background of our students, so it drove some kids away. The numbers started to fluctuate, and it was no more JV and Varsity. It just became Varsity.”
According to Agront, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the number of people reducing throughout the years. Before the pandemic, the JV team was one of the largest it had been in years, but after COVID-19, it slowly started shrinking.
“My biggest team was 27 girls on JV, but when I took over as the head coach, the team got a lot of excitement,” Agront said. “I have a good rapport with a lot of the students on campus, so we were just able to get a bunch of first timers after COVID, but it started to slow down.”
The reason for the reduced number of people from Agront’s numbers is expressed by Varsity Captain Sophia Mommer expresses that the low popularity of softball reduces the number of people trying out; she believes that fewer people try out because softball is a relatively uncommon sport, particularly at MVHS.
“When I talk to people, I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Oh, there’s a softball team?’” Mommer said. “Even some girls on the team didn’t know that there was a preseason, but joined afterward. There’s a lot of misinformation about the team — people think that we’re only a JV team, but we’re actually a Varsity team.”
Freshman and second base player Jade Tervizo expresses that MVHS rigorous academic culture also affects how many people try out for the team. She also explains that this culture makes it harder for people to participate in any sport, not just softball.
“I think freshman year is usually the easiest year,” Tervizo said. “So once you join the team, you’re fine with it. As it gets to sophomore year, you feel a lot more pressure, so you need more time, and that’s why you don’t participate in a sport anymore.”
Mommer also explains the struggles the team faces due to less people on the team and how it causes there to be fewer, if any, substitutes during the game.
“The lack of players makes it harder to swap for us,” Mommer said. “We’re unable to swap people out as much like our pitcher, we only have one pitcher, and she has to pitch the whole game when usually you swap halfway through because they get tired. We have limited options for other positions so if somebody gets hurt or something, we don’t have any backup.”
One specific challenge that the softball team faces in terms of fewer players is the shortage of pitchers. The team currently has one pitcher, even though there are supposed to be two to swap out during the second half of the game, as one pitcher pitching the whole game increases their risk of injury.
“It’s been rough in terms of trying to do what’s right,” Agront said. “I’m not going to let my pitcher pitch every single game and throw out her arm and risk potential injury. It’s all about growing into development. I don’t mind forfeiting a game to protect the players.”
The softball team and staff plan to onboard more players to the team in the following years by recruiting on both social media and through word of mouth. Agront also mentions that having camps for softball would benefit the team as the players would gain more experience.
“It’s all about culture,” Agront said. “If you can’t set up a good culture that kids want to come play in, then then your sport is going to die. For softball, it’s more than about the sport — it’s also about building relationships, having a great opportunity to develop in that sport, but also athletically.”
