The girl’s softball team lost their first game of the season against Bloomington-Jefferson, the final score was 0-15. Despite their loss, Park players are looking to solve mistakes they made during the game.

Sophomore varsity player Savannah Romero said the team wasn’t ready for the game, and could have performed better.

“We were really nervous and it definitely affected how we played,” Romero said. “I was upset that we lost, and I think we could’ve done a lot better”.

Sophomore varsity catcher Maddy Schmitz said before the game the team was anxious and Jefferson has a strong record against Park.

“The team is a little shaky because it’s our first game and we’re up against our biggest rival — Jefferson has always crushed us,” Schmitz said.

Head coach Bobby Crumpton said the game was early in the season and players weren’t prepared enough for the game.

“I felt like we weren’t ready to play,” Crumpton said. “It was our first time outside, we weren’t far in the team development process, and it was just too early to play”.

Senior captain Anya Lindell Paulson said the game was harder than other games for the whole team.

“I think we did a good job knowing what we did wrong, we struggled defensively and offensively, causing our pitcher to work a lot harder,” Lindell Paulson said. “I feel like I was pretty mentally tough, I saw mistakes and moved on from them”.

Schmitz said the game was an opener for the season to measure where the team is at and where they can improve.

“These are season games — the scores won’t matter until we actually get to Sectionals and this game is to gauge where we are right now,” Schmitz said.

Crumpton said that players can improve on technique, but they are doing better than he expected them to.

“They need to hit better which will help keep pressure off other players,” Crumpton said. “I think they’re doing well at fighting and they’re beyond where I expected them to be in these terms.”

Girls’ softball’s next game will be against Kennedy on Wednesday, April 26.