Four years can seem like a long time. For a senior like Maddy Montgomery, it’s an entire high school career. That’s how long it had been since the last time the Middletown High School softball team defeated the Walkersville Lions in a regular season game. On March 31, the Knights pulled together to break this streak with a hard-earned win of 10 (Knights) to 2 (Lions).
“It felt amazing,” said Montgomery. “My coach made me a promise before the season that I will have a win over Walkersville before I graduate, so it felt amazing to finally achieve that.”
The Knights had to be on their game for this one and they used their knowledge from the previous games to be prepared for the Lions’ strengths and weaknesses. “We knew that their pitcher wasn’t as fast so we practiced with slower pitching,” Montgomery said, “but most importantly, we mentally prepared ourselves by never losing focus of our goal.”
“We were losing 2-0 in the beginning, but we were always making contact with the ball and having quality at-bats, so we knew if we kept hitting well, the ball would eventually find gaps, and it did,” Montgomery said. The Knights could have backed down in fear, as they did in the past, but they kept their heads up and fought hard to the end.
The Knights’ hard work paid off in this game; they were able to do things they haven’t in past games that allowed them to stay in the game when they were losing. “Consistently being able to hit the ball is what helped us win the game; they weren’t always base hits, but making the defense constantly work and make plays eventually tired them out and worked toward our advantage,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery had a huge impact on the outcome of this game. Hitting two doubles toward the end of the game, she helped to continue the team’s momentum and get the win. “After striking out early in the game, it was huge for me to be able to come back from that and hit as well as I did,” said Montgomery. “I also received the game ball, which meant so much to me.”
Although the Knights beat the Lions by 8 runs, the game didn’t start out so confidently. The Knights trailed at the start but never lost hope.
In previous games, their confidence has been shaken, but Montgomery says that they “were so much more confident going into this game than [they] have been in the past. Confidence goes a long way in sports and we have been lacking that the past three years.”
The celebration after the game was a sweet one because all of their hard work finally paid off. “We were so excited,” Montgomery said. “I think I was the most excited because the win meant so much more to me, but it has really given us confidence for the coming games.”
