Jaguars outslug Huskies, 19-10, in regional semifinal

The varsity softball team ended their season with a 19-10 regional semifinal loss to Blue Valley West Wednesday May 17. Senior Kylie Young went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI in the loss.

Gabe Swartz, Sports Editor

For the 17th time this season, the Blue Valley Northwest Huskies softball team lost. This time however, the Huskies provided some offensive fireworks in doing so. The varsity softball team was defeated by Blue Valley West in the regional semifinals, in a game that looked promising early on.

The Huskies began the first inning with 3 runs, highlighted by senior Kylie Young’s 2-run single. For the second time all season, BVNW was able to score double-digit runs. Head coach Kim White said she felt the early offensive success showed the Huskies true potential.

“We talked a lot this week at practice about the fact that we had not played like we were capable of playing, and I asked them to dig down and find what they knew they had in them,” White said. “And I really feel like they did [play to the best of their abilities].”

Senior Reagan Whitworth said she and the Huskies came out highly motivated and fed up with the struggles of this season.

“We were all kind of sick of losing and we just wanted to play our hearts out for one last day,” Whitworth said.

On a day when heavy wind gusts made pitching difficult, the offense was not the issue for the Huskies in this contest.

Leading 3-0 after the top half of the first inning, sophomore Abby Bishop had plenty of difficulty getting through the Jaguar lineup. Bishop could only get 2 outs in the circle, giving up 4 hits, and 6 earned runs when it was all said and done. Young, who relieved Bishop said coming on in desperate relief was something she was plenty comfortable with.

“I’m always good with just getting thrown into situations and I don’t know why,” Young said. “I just deal better with situations I don’t expect to come.”

Despite Bishop’s struggles, BVNW responded in the top of the second inning with a 6-run inning of their own. The heart of the Huskies lineup helped the Huskies steal the lead back as hits by sophomore Haley Shin, freshman Julia Breidenthal, Whitworth and Young each delivered RBI hits.

Whitworth, who went 4-for-4 with an RBI for the game, said she entered the game not worrying about it potentially being her last in a Husky uniform.

“I was just kind of numb to the fact that it might be my last game,” Whitworth said. “I wasn’t in my head at all. I think that played a big role in [the offensive success] and how well I hit.”

Even though the Huskies scratched across one run in the third inning, from the fourth through seventh innings, BVNW could only manage two hits.

Despite the Huskies falling to the Jaguars 19-10 in this regional semifinal, and ending the season with a 4-17 record, White said she is optimistic for the the future. A future that is headlined by leadoff hitter freshman Audrey Warner, and Breidenthal, who as a freshman led the team in batting average.

“I’ve got to be honest, I’m excited with what our freshman did this year. They are talented, they stepped into our program, and they just fit like a glove,” White said. “Our future is promising, but we’ve got a lot of great kids to replace. Losing five seniors is tough. I’ve done it two other times, and it’s hard, but I think that we’re going to have kids that will step in and do what they need to do.”