With five seniors who were strong leaders for the AC/GC Chargers having graduated from the softball team, Head Coach Eric Van Meter talks about the younger players that will help lead the team next season.

Van Meter says that the juniors have a core of three athletes that have a lot of playing time, and will no doubt be good leaders for the underclassmen. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio about the sophomores on the squad as well.

“We’ve had some sophomore girls that have been a big part of the varsity, and then we’ve had some that, you know, due to our larger senior class, kind of had to wait an extra year. We did have a few sophomore girls that were more than capable of probably having some varsity spots on other teams. It was just that they’ve been behind some of our seniors. And the JV did go undefeated this year, which we had never done. So, you know, they’re more than capable and ready to step up.”

Van Meter mentions that the freshman and eighth graders did nothing but improve the entire season. He adds that while there were only two eighth graders this year, there’s a larger class of interested athletes in next year’s eighth graders, which should help replace the numbers the graduating seniors took with them. This was also Van Meter’s last season with the Chargers, as he decided it was time to step back and allow a new voice to come in to lead the team.