Story by Gracie Holder – CHS Senior
Although the climate and weather patterns lately are making it easy to pretend spring is not rapidly approaching, it is indeed true; spring is coming. With the spring season drawing near, comes the arrival of an additional season that will sprout – Chisholm High School’s spring sporting seasons of boys’ baseball and girls’ slow-pitch softball.
Chisholm High School’s boys’ baseball coach, Bobby Shoate, agreed to comment on the upcoming season as he believes it will be one unlike any other: “I am really excited to get going. I think we have some awesome pieces on this team. After having most of last season cancelled there is some rust to knock off, but I am confident these guys will buy into what we are trying to accomplish and work hard to do things the right way. We just have to make sure that we take nothing for granted. As we found out last season, nothing is guaranteed. We have to give our best effort every day and be smart about doing what we can do to keep ourselves healthy.” Coach Shoate also spoke on what his team will embody this season despite potential interruptions. “The goal every year is to be a champion. If you do not set out to be the best, you will never get there. However, winning a state championship will not be our measure of success or failure. A successful season will be one in which we improve as ballplayers and people. We want to lay the foundation for a program built on leadership, character, consistency, and excellence. We all want to be champions, but only one team a year gets to be a champion. Our success comes from responsible, accountable, and quality human-beings leaving our program and being successful in things other than baseball,” Shoate said.
As for the CHS Lady Horns slow-pitch softball team, Coach Jim Johnson referenced his teams’ ambitions ahead of the season’s arrival: “I’m expecting an outstanding year. The girls have been excited to start and have set high goals for this team. We are returning a strong core from last year’s team that started out 5-1. Our defense should be very strong, and our offense will have some of the best hitters that we have had in a long time. I think we will continue where we left off from fast-pitch this fall.” Coach Johnson further explained the renewed vigor of his players this season—inspirited and jovial to have a fresh start this season as last year of March 2020 their season was cut short like many others across the nation. “Last year was a tough year for everyone. I felt bad for our players and especially for the seniors. Our season last spring started out great; we were ranked 12th in the state only to have our season shut down after 6 short games. I know this year’s players will be ready to play after missing most of last year’s season. I do believe the girls appreciate playing more after what occurred last year.”
Both the CHS boys and girls’ teams begin their seasons the first week of March with hopefully the weather permitting them a fresh start. Come out to support the CHS Longhorns boy’s baseball and girl’s slow-pitch softball teams this season!
