photo by mvcyclones.com
By Kirsten Duffy, JRN 111 Student
After a season-long battle last year with McHenry County College ending with a shared conference title, the Moraine Valley softball team is starting this season with hopes of capturing the title without the “co” label.
“Last season was actually pretty good.” said Alexandria Palumbo, who is one of seven returning sophomores on the 15-member team. “We tied for first in conference, I’m excited to try and take conference again this year.”
The Cyclones opened the season Sunday with a non-conference double-header against the Triton College Trojans, losing both games, 12-4 and 7-3. They have another a double-header at home on Saturday against Danville Community College.
Although last year’s overall record was 14-18, the Cyclones had a conference record of 10-2, losing only to Elgin and McHenry. This year, their conference season begins March 31 with a double-header at home against College of Lake County. They will have to wait until April 21 for their matchup against rival McHenry.
Looking to improve upon the abysmal 1-9 away record last year, the team is set to try to turn it around while continuing their strong play at home, which led to a 13-9 record last year.
The team is excited to be playing again and ready to put the work in to build on last year’s success. Palumbo said the Cyclones plan to work on communication.
“As a team, our big thing is definitely communication on the field,” she said. “There’s a lot of commotion during games between fans and players, so we need to stay calm and be loud and relay things to the outfield and vice versa.”