by Jake Boese |

Winning a 24-team tournament is hard. Winning a tournament by beating the defending champions is harder. Winning a tournament only won once in school history, not even the year the team won state, is almost impossible. But that is exactly what the Varsity Softball team did, winning the Greater Kansas City Tournament for only the second time in school history.
The Lady Jays started off the tournament winning their first four games before facing off against Blue Springs South. The team downed the Blue Springs South Jaguars 4-1 with Caitlin VanVleck driving in the winning run and Brooke Bernard adding two insurance runs with a double.
A key to victory for the ladies throughout the tournament was their unity.
“We’re one team. We aren’t cliquey. We bond really well and when we work together we’re unstoppable,” senior Chelsea Ross said.
“Communication was a big deal and coming together as a team,” sophomore Jessica Rawie said.
Another key for the team was their clutch hitting.
“We hit when we need to and got down bunts when we needed to,” junior Hannah Pyle said. “We’re solid all the way through the lineup. There’s not one spot that can’t put the ball in play.”
Rawie agreed with Pyle. “Our hitting was pretty dominant in the tournament.” Rawie said.

This tournament win was much more rewarding than all the others for the Jays. There was extremely tough competition in the tournament and the motivation of beating the defending champions. Along with the competition and opponents, and the Jays’ history in the tournament, only having won it once before, also added to great emotions.
“Going 5-0 against the competition we faced is very rewarding,” Coach Scott Howard said. “Any time you can win five in a row at this level, it is good.”
Defeating the tournament champions from the previous year also helped motivate the team.
“We also beat the defending tournament champions, so that helps add to the excitement of the tournament title,” Howard added.
With all of the factors that went into the team winning the tournament the feeling was great for the players and coaches.
“It was a good feeling. There was a lot more to it because it’s been so long since we’ve won the tournament so it was new for all of us,” Ross said.
The tournament was a good beginning to the season for the team and they hope to continue their success throughout the rest of the 2011 season.
“It gives us a great start to the season and sets us up for future success,” Howard said.