by Daniel Feinberg

Sophomore Lisa Gerton takes batting practice as sophomore Shira Epstein anticipates the pitch behind home plate. The Lions hope to find success this season after a 10-0 record and championship last year.

With strong team unity and hard practice, the girls varsity softball team hopes to repeat last seasons success despite losing integral players from last years championship team.

The Lions finished atop the PVAC last season with a 10-0 record. However, with the loss of key senior starters such as Naomi Hersson-Ringskog, Rebecca Maltzman, Joanna Liss, and Erica Cohen, the chance for a repeat season will be very difficult.

“We lost eight juniors, all of whom were very important to our team,” said sophomore Shira Epstien.

“Overcoming this loss will be very difficult for us.”

Coach Victor Littman said, “Naomi, Rebecca, Joanna and Erica were all three-year-starters and key players to the team.

Junior Yael May is optimistic despite the loss of the seniors.

“It is going to be tough because most of the seniors were starters, but with good practice and teamwork, we can make up for the losses,” said May.

Sophomore Lisa Gerton also felt that it would be important to regain the unity that the team had last season.

“Last year, we were very close together. Hopefully we can regain the unity and spirit that we had last year,” said Gerton.

As a result of losing several players from last years championship team, this year’s team is relatively inexperienced, as it is made up of mostly sophomores and freshmen.

Junior captain Lauren Cherrick hopes that the team’s three junior captains can provide leadership roles this season, to guide those more inexperienced players.

“In order to succeed, the captains, [juniors] Shanna [Bernstein], Yael [May] and I, must step up and be the leaders of this team,” said Cherrick. “The seniors provided leadership roles on this team last season. Now that they are gone, we have to try to unite this team and encourage teamwork.”

Epstien said, “Last season, even though this year’s sophomores were on the team, we weren’t as pivotal because of the seniors. Were a young team and we’ll be going up against seniors, so that is one weakness that will be overcome with hard practice and teamwork.”

Even though the departure of the seniors will be tough to overcome, the Lions still have many weapons left in their arsenal, including Cherrick, one of the top pitchers in the PVAC and Montgomery County according to Littman.

Sophomore Joanne Silberg also believes that Cherrick will play a major role in the team’s success this year.

Lauren is awesome. She was and still is a major asset in our winning,” she said.

Last season, Cherrick was nearly flawless. In 39 innings, Cherrick struck out 59 batters. In addition, Cherrick threw two no-hitters.

“She is simply amazing,” said Epstein. “Pitching is definitely our biggest strength and Lauren is an integral part of the team.”

In addition to having confidence in their pitching, the Lions also feel confident in their defensive abilities despite have an entirely new starting infield.

“We have very good players filling in for the seniors that we lost, so we should be all right in the field,” said Gerton.“As long as we come together as a team and work together as a team, we can overcome these losses.

Athletic Director Phil Papier also has very high expectations for the Lions.

“The fact that you have Coach Littman, one of the top coaches in the county, coaching this team and coming off an undefeated season with one of the top pitchers in the league, I think they’ll be very competitive,” said Papier.