Softball team has winning start

Although it's only their second year to even exist, the Green River High School girls fastpitch softball team is already improving drastically. After not winning any games in their inaugural season, the team has won two out of three games after just their first weekend.

"We're leaps and bounds ahead of where we were last year at this time," head coach Blaire Aimone said. 

This year's season started with the Lady Wolves taking on three other teams last Saturday during a tournament hosted in Cheyenne. Although the day started off with the Lady Wolves losing to Laramie 13-0, the Green River team pulled off close wins in their next two games, beating Cheyenne South 6-5 in a walk off game and beating Wheatland 7-6. 

"I'm really proud of the girls," Aimone said. "They're really starting to buy in to what we're trying to teach them and now we're seeing all that come together."

This year's early success builds off of last year's learning experiences, according to Aimone. She pointed out it was the first softball season for all Wyoming high schools, not just Green River, and getting started gave everyone the chance to grow.

"The kids battled and we learned a lot," Aimone said, thinking about last year. "You're gonna learn way more from your losses than you are from your wins. That's just kind of how it goes. We learned so much last season, now it's starting to carry over to this season."

Having softball tournaments up and running throughout Wyoming is a reality Aimone has been waiting to see. She grew up in Colorado, where softball was one of the fastest-growing women's sports and she was an MVP for two years playing for Sterling High School's softball team. When she moved to Wyoming, Aimone realized the biggest "bummer" about living here was the lack of softball opportunities for girls like her daughter. 

"Softball gave me so much in my life," Aimone said. "These girls deserve that same opportunity. And I know Green River's had some great softball players that didn't have that opportunity to play for their high school. So now that these girls have that opportunity, I think that's very, very important." 

Aimone admitted softball isn't for everyone and requires players who are tough. The potential for injury is always a challenge in the sport, even from things like being hit by the ball. 

"Even though they call it softball, the ball is definitely not soft," she noted. 

The game also requires mental toughness, Aimone explained. She believes the game is 90% mental and requires focus and determination. Even the most successful hitters in the sport are only successful three out of the 10 times, according to Aimone, and learning to accept failure is part of the game.

Another requirement for finding success in softball is being able to learn and practice a variety of different skills, including base running, fielding and batting. 

"You have to be well-rounded," Aimone said. "You can't just focus on one aspect of the sport." 

As each player practices a variety of skills, they also have to learn to accept the role they're given, which can be challenging for students, according to Aimone. 

"Every role is important, whether that's on the field or cheering in the dugout," she said. 

As they get ready to take on the challenges the sport itself brings, the Lady Wolves will also have to face the challenges from their competition across the state. 

"The competition is tough," Aimone admitted. But she also noted victories are never certain. "I think any given day, any team can win."

While Green River has started strong this season, Aimone wants to be sure the team doesn't take winning for granted.

"We won two games out of the whole entire history of the program," she said. "So we cannot be stagnant and satisfied there. We've got to take every competition like it's our first win ever and go from there because there's going to be tough times."

As the Lady Wolves get started, things are looking hopeful for both the rest of the season and the future of the program. 

"We have a really, really good class of freshmen coming in and a really good group of sophomores and juniors and seniors," Aimone said. She also expressed her excitement over the size of the team, especially when considering the size of Green River High School and the fact that the school offers other sports. "To have 22 kids come out for your sport . . . that says something." 

As far as this season goes, Aimone and her fellow coaches are looking forward to the team continuing to learn and grow.

"We just want to focus on improving each week coming out and learning something new every single week, always applying what we learned at last week's games to this week's games," Aimone said. "We want to win of course, but right now we just want to make sure that we're teaching these kids not just softball skills but lifelong lessons that they're going to carry far further than the softball field."