The Hillsdale College softball team will begin its season today in Toledo, Ohio, with an exhibition game against Tiffin University at 11 a.m.
Head coach Kyle Gross said he has been forced to reschedule this game twice because of the opponents’ cancelations due to COVID-19.
“Hopefully that’s not a theme for the season,” Gross said. “A team could be out any week due to COVID, so I think that will be one of the biggest challenges, but we’re prepared to play. If we’re healthy and if there’s a healthy team and a safe venue to play, then we’re going to be there.”
The Chargers will be traveling to northern Georgia for a tournament this weekend, where they’ll play the host team, University of North Georgia, on Feb. 13 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., followed by the University of West Florida on Feb. 14.These will be top-notch opponents, as the University of North Georgia is ranked third in the NCAA Division II, and the University of West Florida was a top-eight finisher in the last College World Series.
Freshman catcher McKenna Eichholz said she and her teammates are ooking forward to the opportunity to play especially because they weren’t able to have a season last year.
“Our coach has done a really good job making sure that we’re actually going to play,” Eichholz said. “He did his best to really fill our season instead of having games that constantly get canceled.”
Having been almost a whole year since their last game, Gross explained that this factor could easily be one of the Chargers’ biggest challenges this year. Junior third-baseman Elaine Townley seconded how the length of time between the team’s last game and now will be a factor.
“Adjusting to being back together and live competition will be a challenge,” Townley said. “We’ve seen the same pitchers over and over again, and we haven’t gotten to hit on an actual field or see that view. It’s going to be a huge adjustment back, it is every year, but especially now since we haven’t had an actual game.”
Understanding the obstacles that the softball team will face this year, Gross said his team is optimistic and can’t wait to see what this year has in store.
“Amidst all the craziness of this season, I am super excited to get into it and I think it’s going to be an amazing season,” Gross said.
