For the first time ever, the Lakes softball program hosted a wiffleball tournament in the field house on Saturday February 18th. “I think the tournament was a great success from all the comments of the teams, parents, coaches, and people involved,” says varsity head coach Hamill. “The brackets and games were set up great and it seems like all the players, coaches, and everyone helping out had lots of fun,” said senior varsity returner, Jackie Kohler. The fundraiser not only raised money for the softball program, but also collected food to donate. Each player was required to bring in at least one item to donate. “We collected over 300 lbs of food and even met with the director for the mission,” coach Hamill shares.
The idea for the wiffleball fundraiser came from sophomore Emily Ovaska’s dad, Jeff Ovaska. “We wanted to give the opportunity for travel team players to have an event with their travel team before the highschool season starts,” Hamill explains. The event was such a success that coach Hamill and the Lakes softball program are already hoping to host this event again in the years to come, and are working on ideas to make the fundraiser even better. “We would like to open this up to more age groups and also to boys on the following day. Not only would this make this a bigger fundraiser for the program, but it would also increase the number of donations that are provided for the mission,” says Hamill.
Another huge benefit of the fundraiser was being able to bring everyone together and experience bonding time for the lady eagles softball team. This holds an extra special importance this year because the Lakes softball team will be traveling down to Florida for spring break. This trip is going to be a very special memory for some of the lady eagles, especially the seniors. “I am looking forward to a very fun season because there will be lots of team bonding time that I think will be very fun and exciting for the team. I think this will help bring us together which will help us play well and win more games,” stated Kohler.
Last season, the Eagles concluded with a regional championship win against Carmel. However, they faced a devastatingly tough loss to Antioch in sectionals. Saying goodbye to starting seniors Grace Dunsworth, Riley Hanrahan, and CC Fleming, will take some adjustments, but the lady eagles are eager to get back on the field.
The wiffleball fundraiser was the perfect transition into the season. “It was nice to be able to do this for the community and hear all the positive comments about my players and coaches and how they represented themselves,” Hamill adds. The lady eagles are planning to carry this positive energy into their season. We can expect very good things from the eagles softball team in this year’s season.