The THHS Hawks went into the game expecting an even-match up, but were not able to translate their skills to energy on the field. On Thursday, March 27, the girls softball team lost to Metropolitan Campus High School, three to one.

Junior Nicole Gleizer expected that the game could go either way. She said, “We expected an even game and that it was anybody’s win, but hopefully ours. They played a team we already played and the score for their game was 23-3, where ours was 27-0.”

Regardless, Metropolitan Campus took the lead early, scoring three times within the first two innings and holding THHS to one. Junior Debra Chan scored THHS’s only point in the first inning, stealing home as the batter hit a grounder. Metropolitan threw the ball to first base, allowing Debra to steal home.

After the first two innings of the game, senior captain Bianca Dilan’s pitching prevented Metropolitan Campus from any further scoring. While at bat during the last inning with two players on base, THHS had the potential to tie and maybe even take the lead, but fell short of doing so.

Many of the players thought that their energy level was not where it should be. Senior Nicole Tan said, “Our energy level was good in the beginning. We were fine initially, but having a deficit in the early stages of the game made us lose our focus and then our energy. Our energy wavered throughout the game and peaked near the end when we had a chance to tie, but by then it was too late.”

Bianca added, “You could tell the girls had a lot on their minds. We were trying, but you could feel that the energy level was low and there was a lack of focus. We’re a good team, but we needed to regroup and energize.”

After the game, Coach Fountoulis talked to her players and reinforced the fact that they are a good team. She told them that they made mental errors and her players all accepted that and were prepared to prevent a game like Thursday’s from happening again.

Coach Fountoulis made sure that the team wouldn’t play with that level of energy again because at the next practice, she emphasized running and motivation. Bianca said, “Coach made us run a lot the next practice. She wanted to give us more of a reason to be mad and motivated to win, and it worked. She made us chant cheers as we ran so that we could have more energy. I’m sure that next game we’ll be prepared not just physically but, also mentally.”