In a season quite like a rollercoaster ride with its up and downs, the Castleton softball team started off hot but have since cooled off in the second half of the season dealing with the unpredictable Vermont spring weather. 

Down the stretch of the season, the Spartans have had a tough span of games that have gone the opposite of their hot start of the season. Over the last nine games, the team has dropped seven, with four of them being within two runs. 

“So far this season, we’ve had many ups and downs. I believe we have what it takes to be successful going into these last few weeks of the season. Our confidence has been very low as of late, which has cost us a few games. I think we need to hit reset and go into these last few weeks with confidence and play the game we all know too well,” said senior Brianna Belisle. 

Currently the team sits seventh in the LEC with a 2-6 conference record with wins over Keene State and Eastern Connecticut. The Spartans are on the outside looking in for a playoff position but have six more conference games in order to make that push into a playoff spot. 

“We’ve stuck together so far. We just need to believe in ourselves and never give up and all will fall into place. We really need to focus on staying up and energetic. In the game of softball, success is stemmed from energy. We have what it takes to win, we just have to go out there and prove it,” Belisle said. 

In the final six games, the team faces Western Connecticut, Plymouth State, and Rhode Island College. Plymouth is the only team behind Castleton in the standings of those three matchups, which can come in handy for the team down this stretch of crucial games. 

“In my opinion, I think in order to be successful in this final stretch is to definitely be confident in both yourself and the team. Going down the stretch, we have been maintaining a positive attitude towards our players,” said sophomore Jordan Hill. “I think we need to emphasize our players during the game more often to find more success, we need to be loud in order to be locked into the whole game, we also need to lean on each other and help guide ourselves throughout this final stretch,”

Throughout the season, although the team has had its ups and downs, the team has been hitting for a team average of .248 with a team OPS of .651. On the pitching side, the team has an average ERA of 3.48, led by the likes of Madison Gould and Alexis Rogers who both have a 3.05 ERA with both Katie Gallagher and Trista DeLong not far behind them in that department. 

“Our goal is to be in the top six of the conference to get into the LEC tournament, so each conference game from here until the end is like a playoff game for us. We need to clean up a few things on the defensive side and keep things simple. Our pitching has been pretty solid all season, and if we can get our bats and gloves synced up, we have a chance to finish well and make a run to the tourney,” said head coach Eric Ramey. 

The Spartans start off their final stretch Saturday April 27 against Western Connecticut in a double header that can have large implications as West Conn sits just above Castleton in the LEC standings.