Lady Spartans go to War On The Battlefield
Team huddles around Coach Henderson in the last inning vs Blue Springs South.
The softball team went to war this weekend in the sixth annual “War on Battlefield” tournament.
The Spartans went 2-2. The team had wins over Smith-Cotton and Fulton and lost to Blue Springs South and Helias.
The tournament brings many different schools from around mid-Missouri to compete. “This is a tournament with some of the best in the state. It features two state champions [Blue Springs South and Mexico], and others that are district finalists [Helias],” Joe Henderson, head coach, said. “By starting with the best it gives me a measuring stick of where we are at physically, mentally and as a team.”
The Lady Spartans have never won the tournament but have secured a neutral record in all of the six years of the tournament.
Allie Farell, senior, said that she believes the tournament can change the momentum of a player or team. “Overall the momentum we got from the tournament is going to help us through the season. We are young and we were expecting to come in and not do so well. We were able to keep up with all of the difficult teams however and it showed all of us that can play with the best.”
For seniors this may be their last non-district or state tournament. The Lady Spartans get an advantage as this gives them two days to perform in front of their fans at the beginning of the season and show what they got.
Senior catcher Sophia Fernandez made the All-Tournament team, as well as juniors Eliyah McCarthy and Mya McCubbin.
This is Fernandez’s last year and she said that it was more sentimental to her this year. She explained what she will miss about this tournament, “I will totally miss this tournament. This gives us a chance to go out there and compete on our field and have fun.”
