[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_style” interval=”3″ images=”3493,3492,3491,3490,3488,3489,3495,3496,3497″ layout=”3″ gallery_style=”1″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”300×200″][vc_column_text]The softball team has one goal in mind this season: prove people wrong.

Coming off of multiple successful tournaments, the team began district play over spring break. The Hawks currently have a 12-13 season record and a 2-2 district record. The coaching staff is looking to the leadership of six seniors to guide a young varsity team that has one junior, four sophomores and three freshmen.

“We’re really just trying to prove people wrong and, especially with how young of a team we have, we’re not expected to do much this year,” senior captain Erinn Hill said. “But we’ve been working really hard and we’re trying to prove to people that we can contend in one of the toughest districts in the state.”

For the first time in program history, the team traveled for a tournament. At the competitive College Station tournament, the girls were not expected to do very well but that was just the beginning of proving people wrong.  The team finished ended up seventh out of 64 teams. The College Station tournament was followed by the up-and-down Southlake tournament and then the McKinney tournament where to team began playing together well.

“[The College Station Tournament] was a good start for the season and with our team, we needed a good, winning start to give us a lot of confidence going into Southlake [tournament],” head coach Staci Jackson said. “We fell asleep a little bit during the Southlake Tournament and we had some tough games but sometimes you need those tough games to turn yourself around.”

At the McKinney Tournament, Jackson celebrated her 100th win with the Hebron Softball Program. Jackson became the head coach at the beginning of the 2012 season. The softball team parents and the softball girls surprised Jackson with a game ball signed by the team.

“I didn’t actually know that that was my 100^th win so it was pretty neat that whoever does keep track of that, knew that that was my 100th,” Jackson said. “I was looking for the girls after the game and they were around the corner and they had all signed a ball to give to me. They wanted me to give a speech and all I had to say was that it couldn’t have happened with a better team.”

Although the team is fairly young, Jackson is always looking to her senior players to lead by example and to help the younger girls out. Jackson named Hill as the captain for this season.

“I want to continue to step up and be a leader,” Hill said. “One of our sayings this year is ‘Leave a Legacy’ and I hope to be remembered as a player who made a difference.”

Now, the team is looking to have a successful district record and hopefully a good playoff run. The 5-5A district is cutthroat, according to past playoff races. Lewisville, one of the teams in the district, is the defending 2013 state champion. The team will need to play smart in district play to secure a playoff spot.

“We have two teams in the top ten in the state, currently, and Lewisville just won state last year so they are going to be tough this year, as always,” Hill said. “Flower Mound will also be a good team this year. There aren’t really any teams that we can take lightly this year.”

The team has a good chance at making it to playoffs but they will need to play smart during every single inning in order to secure a playoff spot.

“We hope to make it to playoffs because that is always our goal to make it in,” Jackson said. “It doesn’t really matter if you’re first, second, third or even fourth just as long as we make it in.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row]