Softball coach Shari Schaake understands the difficulties of bringing together players from different schools and being able to unite them together into one softball team.

“We have a tough league and have scheduled some very tough out-of-league opponents,” she said. “My expectations for the season are optimistic.”

Schaake thinks it is tough to say how the girls will do, but she hopes to improve throughout the season.

“The biggest challenge for us is to combine from two different teams,” junior Rachel Evans said. “We need good chemistry, to get to know each other and we need to get used to the coaches.”

Schaake likes the work ethic of the girls and she thinks they can become great if they learn how to play well together.

“We have one of the strongest leauges in the state of Kansas for softball,” Schaake said. “We will face a State champion in Basehore-Linwood and two 3rd place State finishers in Paola and St. Thomas Aquinas. At the very least, I expect us to improve with the competitions we will be seeing this season.”

The varsity girls take the field at 5 p.m. March 29 against Paola at home.

Pendleton expects his team to compete day in and day out, in practice and in games.

As all teams will, the Timberwolves girls soccer team will be against some solid competition in the Eastern Kansas League (EKL).

He plans to have his team prepare for its first season in the EKL by primarily trying to get better every day.

The girls will work toward building a team and meshing together as they prepare for the season kick-off.

“Our EKL is going to be pretty tough because many of them have been playing together for awhile,” Hicklin said. “It should be a fun challenge for us to get to compete against them.”

Sophomore Anna Welch has already gotten a head start on bonding with players through off-season workouts.

“A lot of the people who went to conditioning have played together or somehow know each other,” she said. “Also, it was a good chance to make freshmen feel welcomed — there are a lot. It should be a really fun year.”

Welch said that once the season begins, the team will become even closer and work hard to achieve their main goal.

“We don’t have a team yet, so we don’t have chemistry,” Pendleton said. “Within a few weeks, we should be moving in that direction.”

Their first game and home-opener will be on March 28 against Topeka West High School.