The string of chants that are yelled at the top of the varsity softball team’s player’s lungs is filled with energy. The clanking of metal erupts from the dugout as the players drum on the gates and ceiling creating an intimidating atmosphere for their opposing team. The team is in the playoffs and they are not holding back.

The Softball Varsity team first played Stoney Point High School the weekend of April 27th, and won their first game 7-1 and their second game 4-2. Next in round two of the playoffs, against Houston Memorial High School the weekend of the 5th, Bowie won both their first and second games by a score of 4-2. Lastly in round three of playoffs against Hendrickson High School, Bowie won their first game 1-0 and their second game 3-2.

Going into their fourth round against Oak Ridge High School the girls’ and coaches’ excitement for the game is high because the seniors on the team have never made it this far into the playoffs before.

“We’re feeling pretty confident about next round, we actually played them last year in playoffs 2nd round and beat them at their place,” junior Tiffany Licon said.

After last weekend when the girls came together to win both of their games in the same night, senior Sarah Williamson feels good heading into the game against Oak Ridge.

“I’m feeling really confident going into next round because we’ve showed extreme perseverance and I know we can do whatever we want if we come together like we did last round,” Williamson said.

The girls have spent the past few months playing and after multiple reflections of their games they know what they need to focus on going into round three in order to be successful.

“For my next couple games I need to work on being focused on every single pitch,” McLennan said. “I can’t take any pitches off, I can’t just put one in there because as the teams get better they’ll be able to execute on missed pitches so I just need to make sure that I’m locked in every single pitch.”

McLennan is the starting pitcher for the team and Williamson is the starting catcher making their roles on the team very important.

“Personally I need to be filled with confidence and composure,” Williamson said. “If I do that then our pitcher Alex and I can have our weird psychic connection that’ll allow us to become a power duo against their batters.”

The connection the players have on the field is one of the key aspects to being successful and their coach, Liz Wissel, recognizes this.

“Nikki Gil is the catalyst of this team; this young lady truly works her butt off to make sure we look a team and I don’t think she gets recognized for it all the time,” Wissel said. “Without her there would be a lot of holes that were not filled in the sense of the team.”

The girls have noticed how the feeling of being a part of a team is stronger on the school team than on select teams.

“Here at Bowie it’s an environment where you play more for your team than you do for yourself and just being with your team as often as we are you just develop a lot of friendships and relationships,” McLennan said.

Part of how the team bonds is having a running joke about the crocs they wear but along with that there is a lot of superstitions that have kept the team together in the playoffs.

“I have to have my hair in two braids otherwise it’s bad juju on the team and recently if we eat gushers in the dugout that brings good mojo,” Williamson said. “Before the game starts we have to play hacky sack and when coach Lauer calls lineup we have to be in a circle, the same order every time, with our toes touching and our gloves in the middle.”

Superstitions aside, assistant coach Karl Lauer knows that the girls will be able to go far in the playoffs if they girls are able to recognize that they have earned their spot in round three and have the talent to win it all.

“I haven’t noticed that they’ve been more nervous now that it’s playoffs because I think these girls really excel when put in a spot to perform,” Lauer said. “There’s times I feel like it’s really tough to get up for some of the games just because it’s been a long grueling season, but once it comes to a must win game they came out ready to play.”

The girls know they have a tough opponent to face in round three but they also know they are able to do what has to be done to continue their progression in the playoffs and hope to have support at the game to help them win.

“It means a lot to us having the stands filled, we definitely build off the energy the fans bring,” Licon said. “So I hope next week we have a lot of fans cheering us on.”