It is safe to say that in past years, Regina Dominican has not exactly been known for their softball program. However, this year, the varsity softball team has stepped up their game.

The varsity softball team finished out last year’s season with  3 wins. This year with the season about seventy-five percent of the way through the season, the Varsity  team has already tripled last year’s record with a total of 11 wins so far this season.

Much of this success can be credited to the new coaching staff. Head coach Jim Goranson was Regina’s Varsity coach four years ago. When Regina was looking for a new head softball coach for the 2017 season, he decided to come back and take on the challenge. Joining him are assistant coaches Nikki Goranson and Emily Berth. All three have been a very positive  addition to the team which has struggled in past years.

Head Coach Jim Goranson has an incredible knowledge of the game of softball and has so far proven to have an effective coaching technique. His assistant coaches Emily and Nikki share the same knowledge for the game and have experience playing both in high school and in college softball.

“Not only do they know what physical skills it takes to be a good softball player, they know the mental skills and attitude it takes to be a good player and have done a great job of teaching us both. Coach Goranson is constantly reminding us that softball is 10% physical and 90% mental,” says centerfielder Reilly Becker ‘18.

Before taking the field to practice, the team spent a considerable time in the classroom discussing and analyzing their team and what they felt needed to be fixed. At the beginning of the season Coach Goranson had the team write down, hypothetically, what they would hope could be said of their  softball team at the end of the year banquet. Among these responses, one thing was most common. Almost all team members agreed that they would like to be able to say at the end of their season, that they may not have won every game nor had the best record in the conference, but they gained respect from their peers, school and opposing teams.

So far, with a few hiccups here and there, the Regina Dominican varsity softball team has done a good job of competing or going down without a fight and have even managed to scare the other team for a few innings.

So far, the team has played St. Francis twice, a team which is ranked number 20 in the state. In earlier years, games against St. Francis always seemed to end in a slaughter. This season, while Regina Dominican did not win, they were able to compete and give St. Francis a good game. One game ended with losing score of 7-4 and another loss with a score of 5-0.

One of the team’s biggest personal accomplishments this season has been defeating Loyola Academy, which has not happened in quite a few years. The score went back and forth throughout most of the game, but the Panthers stayed focused and aggressive and were able to finish the game with a score of 6-4. To say the team was excited would be an understatement, however, players were reminded by Coach Goranson that having a strong win under their belts does not give the team the privilege to approach any other game with a cocky attitude, nor does it allow them to be already satisfied with their season as a whole.

The team has been practicing and playing six days a week since the season started. They even sacrificed their spring break to practice during the day and follow that with a game each night. Though it was not easy, the hard work the team put in has been paying off.

Shortstop Rebecca Richards ’19 explained, “It stinks that we didn’t get much of a “break” over spring break, but when you start winning games and seeing how much extra work pays off, it makes it worth it.”

If the team stays focused and does what they are capable of doing, Regina varsity softball may be a team to look out for. However, in fear of jinxing the season, the goal is to stay humble and not give up and play focused and committed. With that, great things can continue to happen.