story by Emily Wemhoff, photos by Menley Brennan

[nggallery id=323]

As the last out was recorded in the Stars’ 11-1 District semifinal loss to Raymore-Peculiar High School Oct. 4, junior first baseman Erin Farmer and her team realized that their season was truly over.

“You just feel deflated, because you know it’s done,” Farmer said.

With two seniors sidelined because of injury during the game, Farmer said the goal was “to step up and win it for them and make them proud of the years they did get to play.” The Stars were hoping this win would propel them into the District final game for a chance to take home the first District title in school history.

Unfortunately, according to junior infielder Grace Bullington, in the final innings “there was nothing we could really do about [Ray-Pec] hitting a homerun or getting timely hits to score.” The Stars did not end the year the way they wanted to.

The Stars had come into the game with a blowout 15-0 win over the Ruskin High School Eagles Oct. 3.

“After getting that win, we were confident going in [against Ray-Pec],” sophomore catcher Allison Bresette said. “We had lost to them before, but our game plan was to win every inning and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We put up one run in the first, and just couldn’t get any more after that.”

The Ray-Pec Panthers went on to win the District championship Oct. 5 with a 2-1 victory over Belton.

The Stars, who finished the season with a record of 12-14, had been successful in recent weeks, with notable wins over Notre Dame de Sion High School and Bishop O’Hara High School. According to Farmer, this season the team got significantly better.

“We only won six games last year. This year we won 12, and were a lot more competitive,” Farmer said.

The team’s strategy in the District semifinal was to stop Ray-Pec’s small ball game (bunting or slapping from the left side), play solid defense and get on base, according to Bresette and Bullington.

The Panthers scored 4 runs in the bottom of the third inning and the Stars never recovered.

“Of course this was the seniors’ last chance and we wanted to end on a good note,” Bullington said. “This was just a bad game to end on.”

Bresette, Bullington and Farmer believed the entire game they could pull off a comeback win.

“We are definitely a team that doesn’t give up,” Bullington said. “We had come back from other deficits in earlier games this year and I knew we had it in us to fight back.”

According to Bresette, this team “stuck it through and didn’t lay down when it got hard.”

“If we thought it was over, we had no chance,” Farmer said.

Looking back on this season, Farmer and Bullington thought the best part was the good team chemistry.

“We all liked each other and believed in one another,” Bullington said. “Everyone wanted to win.”

Farmer said that being a fairly small program means that the team is close.

“We’re like a crazy family,” Farmer said.

The Stars had multiple freshman starting on varsity this year, including pitcher Rachel Allard.

“Mid-way through the season, Coach [Tyler] Abney would always tell us that there were no longer any freshmen, but that we were all equal,” Bullington said. “[Rachel] really stepped up. She learned a lot this year that will help her next year.”

The Stars also had three seniors this year.

“With Anna [Woolery] and Rachel [Tovar] injured, Shaeffer [Smith] really had to step up,” Farmer said. “But just because Anna and Rachel were hurt didn’t mean they disappeared. Whether it was catching in for a coach, getting water or cheering us on, they were always there. All three of our seniors lead this team, on or off the field.”

Although the season is over, Bresette said the team can look ahead to next year with the hopes of improving.

“Next season we will win even more games and take Districts,” Bresette said. “It’s time for softball to get a banner.”