The CHS softball team looked strong in its second scrimmage of the year, defeating Wootton 4-3 March 10.

In the game, CHS looked sharp on the mound and better in the field, an improvement from the first scrimmage in the field as most routine plays were executed.

“Our sophomore pitcher Nora Cleary and senior catcher Sarah Adams played really well,” senior Elizabeth Berriman said. “Nora had great pitch placement the whole game and Sarah had multiple force plays at home.”

In the game, CHS held Wootton scoreless until the seventh inning, thanks to a great performance by Cleary on the mound. The Lady Bulldogs also played well in their first scrimmage of the season against Seneca Valley March 6. Even though the score was not counted, the Lady Bulldogs have much to look forward to, despite having a very young team.

“We worked really well as a team, we had to move people out of their natural positions, but everyone did really well adjusting,” Berriman said.

Berriman is one of two seniors on the team and as there are only two juniors on the team, many underclassmen will be moving up to the varsity team.

“All the sophomores hit really well,” Berriman said. “I was surprised how good they hit this early in the season. It was impressive.”

Even though the Lady Bulldogs were very productive at the plate, there is still room for improvement on the teams fielding.

“We learned that we need to work on communicating on the field after the Seneca Valley scrimmage,” Berriman said. “We also need work on making smart heads up plays that will help us win close games during the season.”

A reason for not enough communication likely comes from the lack of experience. Since the team lost players from the previous season, players are at new positions.

“It is still early but our team definitely has a lot of potential,” junior Sara Gallagher said. “We lost about eight seniors that had a lot of talent, so there will be big shoes to fill.”

One of the hardest players to replace will be 2011 alumna Meghan O’Lone, who pitched the majority of the innings last season. Cleary and sophomore Jennifer Gagner will try to fill O’Lone’s shoes as pitchers.

“It is definitely hard losing such a good pitcher like Meghan, but both Cleary and Gagner have a lot of talent and will contribute to the team,” Gallagher said.

Despite the loss of almost all of last year’s pitching, the team still looks sharp offensively returning power hitters junior Katie Jenkins and Adams.

“Our strengths will probably be our team chemistry and our hitting,” junior Katie Jenkins said.