The Charleston softball teams share their thoughts on their win against Mount Zion, as well as share their game plan for their match at the Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria for the state championship. 

For this group of seniors, they remembered some of the struggles they had in getting to this point of the competition. 

Though it may seem like forever ago, these girls actually missed their freshman year of softball due to Covid-19. 

And we’ve had let downs since we last went to state so it’s been four years.  We got COVID [which took]  away from us… And I feel like we’re just kind of fulfilling our destiny,” says senior year Erin Blair. 

Not even Covid could stop these girls from reaching their full potential. According to Senior year Clara Cox, the team shared their goals and aspirations with one another early on in the season. Around the middle of the season was when those desires were really put to the test. 

“We started off pretty good with the first game, but then we kind of went through a rough patch and in my head I was thinking, we gotta fix this if we want to go to state. After the Mount Zion game, we had a talk and I knew that we were going to turn things around and I knew that we were going to state because it’s just like we started playing as a team. Everything just felt like we felt like we were having fun and it just turned around by going to say is a big is a big deal,” says Cox. 

For many teams, it would make sense for the players to show sides of anxiousness or anxiety. 

But not these girls. They have two goals in mind, get the gold and go have some fun. 

“The game plan is to have fun,” says Senior Maci Mayhall. “We’re going up there to have fun because either way, we’re coming back with hardware. Obviously we want to go for first, but either way, we’re going to have fun!”

Coach Blaine Mayhall says that regardless of what happens, he is extremely proud of the girls and how much work they have put in to get the results that they have been looking for. 

“It’s definitely the quickest team that we’ve had overall, from top to bottom. And yeah, they’re really smart base runners,” he says.

Blair also says that the crowd’s energy is what really kept them motivated during the tough times in the game. After the win, she says that this victory isn’t just for the team, for the community as a whole. 

“The atmosphere was great, having played at Millikin with the stands [filled], it really showed how much support we really have. And I know it’s just it’s not just us going to state, it’s our whole community. And I just feel like it was so good to just know that we had that many people there for us, cheering us on…” Blair says.