Courtesy of Sami Rosenberg

The WJ softball team huddles together during one of their first games. The team is looking to defend their regional championship from last season.

The WJ softball team is looking to build off of last year’s program defining season. It was a historic year for the team in which they went 8-3 in the regular season before winning their region in the playoffs, placing them in the state quarterfinals, where they narrowly lost to the eventual state champions, Catonsville high school.

WJ lost a number of key seniors, but much of the core remains intact, including the star sophomore pitcher duo of Sami Rosenberg and Amanda Siminsky.

“I hope we continue our success this year and make it far into the playoffs. My goals for pitching are to be consistent and keep developing new pitches,” Rosenberg said.

WJ’s pitching will continue to be a strong suit, but the great bats of Sophia Lynch and Kristin Vargas will be missed. WJ has a strong freshman class just like they did last year, which was pivotal to their success.

“Our freshmen are killer and have a great attitude but we sure do miss our seniors. They were the best leaders we could ask for. Sophia Lynch and Kristin Vargas were people we couldn’t replace,” sophomore Carly Gilder said.

Meanwhile, the team brings back a number of their strong position players. Shortstop Gilder and sophomore center fielder Mackenzie Norris return and juniors Maya Rickles and Brook Levin bolster the right side of the infield, as they play second base and first base respectively. The group is ready to build off the momentum of last year.

“There is no other goal than to win so that’s the attitude we walk out of the locker room with every day and that’s hard to stop,” Gilder said.

The team is already off to a hot start, defeating Blake 7-6 last Tuesday in the opening game. Siminsky and Gilder both had multiple RBIs in the game to help lead them to the victory. Gilder is continuing to work on her defense to go along with her strong hitting.

“Personally, my goal is to limit the errors. They’re going to happen but it’s how I play after. One thing that I can actually say I’m confident in is my hitting ability this year. Balls in play are going to win us games so I’d like to contribute every way I can,” Gilder said.

WJ handled Poolseville 16-4 in their next game to improve to 2-0, with games against Gaithersburg and RM this week. The team is embracing the target that will be on them when they face opponents.

“We keep reminding ourselves that we are great players and know the game. We reflect on last season and work extra hard to fix the errors from last season. Also we are working on the basics again. Once we have that down, it’s a mental game from there,” Levin said.