The Niles West Girls Softball team achieved a resounding victory against Evanston Township High School last Friday, April 19. ending with a score of 9-2.  For most of the game, the Wildkits were in the lead with a score of 0-2, but the Wolves regained their foothold by scoring nine points during the 4th inning, winning in the nick of time.

For most of the game, tensions were running high for the Niles West team as they planned to regain the upper hand.

“So far, we’re doing good but we just have to get those runs back. We just need a lot of energy to get us through because that’s how we do good,” sophomore and shortstop Eleri Swanson said.

One of the many strengths that the team has is its energy, which head coach Kelly Kleppin believes gives them an advantage on offense.

“We definitely have strengths offensively, we’ve recorded a lot of hits, a lot of runs, a lot of energy. That’s another strength that we have and in softball that’s a big deal,” Kleppin said.

To prepare for the game, Kleppin’s team strategized by focusing on the defensive and analyzing competition at their practices that occurred every day they didn’t have a game.

“We practiced, we studied our players a little bit and we practiced the pitches that we know their pitchers are going to throw.  We worked on our defensive stuff that we’ve determined prior to the game and that’s about it, just kind of determining what our goals are for practice,” Kleppin said.

Towards the end of the game, sophomore Ava Hester remembers being surprised about the current score, assessing the team’s weaknesses and planning to adjust the team’s strategy accordingly. The team was aided by their offensive strengths and impressive energy, eventually setting off a chain reaction of runs for the team and resulting in their landslide victory.

“My instant reaction was shock of what happened. It was a lack of communication. So the first thing I said to the team after that was let’s get this final out and keep up the communication. After that, I had an urge to score and help the team. At first, it brought our energy down but once one person got it going and we scored one run the energy was electric. And we kept scoring and ended with the win,” Hester said.

The girls play their next game at home against Maine East High School on April 25. Come out and show the Wolves your support!