Softball is not the only sport senior Cyniah Stuart has played, but it will be her last before graduating in June. Because of this, success is on her mind. Not only do the seniors want to go out with a winning season, the Varsity Softball team as a whole is desperate for a win after finishing winless last season.

“This year [Randy] Hill is the head coach and he has many assistant coaches so practices are much more organized,” Stuart said. “We work harder than we did last year so hopefully our hard work will pay off and we can win a couple games.”

In addition to winning, Stuart and her team want to show how much they’ve improved this season by getting outs faster while playing defense. As a second baseman, one of her main goals is to turn a double play in the infield, which hasn’t happened for the team in a while.

“My favorite position is second base and I’ve been playing there since I got moved up to varsity my freshman year,” Stuart said. “My goals for this season are to get a homerun and make a double play.”

Before the former head coach, Susie Bocock, resigned after last years season, Hill was the assistant coach for three years. Since Stuart was on varsity her freshman year, she was used to being coached by both Bocock and Hill. Despite losing Bocock as a coach this season, Stuart believes Hill was a good choice for the position of the new head coach.

“The new coaching staff is better than the years before, [but] Coach Hill has been the most beneficial to me so far this season because he believes in me and is always positive,” Stuart said.

As one of three seniors on this year’s team, Stuart is a captain. This is her first year being in a leadership role on the team, so her goal is to be a role model that positively impacts the team.

“In the previous years we’ve had a lot of drama and this year we have improved a lot at getting along,” Stuart said. “As one of the captains on the team I try to always stay positive, [minimize drama] and keep everybody’s heads up during practices and games.”

So far this season, Stuart has impacted her team both on defense and on offense. She currently has a batting average of .211 and was named as one of three HHS softball players on the list of the best hitters in the district.

“I’m very grateful that I was recognized by the Daily News Record because it shows all of my hard work this season and in former years,” Stuart said. “Our team supported all three of us and it felt really great to know they’re proud of us too.”

Senior pitcher Hannah Brown will also be graduating after this season alongside Stuart and senior outfielder Ines Lopez-Flores. Prior to this season, seven seniors were lost including catcher Maddie Cooper, shortstop Constance Komara and outfielder Aaliyah Jones. Stuart believes Brown’s graduation will have a big effect on the team after her four seasons as a varsity starter.

“Hannah will hurt the team when she graduates because she’s the voice of the team [and always communicates with infielders and outfielders],” Stuart said. “She’s also the main pitcher [for our team].”

Although the team has not yet won a game, Stuart among others remains hopeful in both her teammates and coaches.

“I feel confident in the team this year because we pick each other’s head’s up [even when we are frustrated,] but a weakness on our team is giving up during mistakes, [which sometimes causes a bad inning or two that ultimately leads to a loss],” Stuart said. “We are starting to get more and more hits, so I think we will win very soon if we don’t have any bad innings or if we are able to recover from those bad innings and take the game away from our opponent.”