CCS softball starts Monday

The Chase County softball team is wasting no time jumping into its season. The Longhorns will be on the field Monday in McCook for a triangular with the Bison and Southern Valley.
CCS returns nine letterwinners from last year, senior Katelyn Stamm, Kathya Aragon, Brooke Schilke, Athziry Valenzuela, Denisse Guillen and Hailey Markee, plus juniors Jasmine Johnson and Lizbet Mireles and sophomore Yesi Ruiz. Senior Iris Robles also adds depth to the team after missing last season. Seventeen players reported for the season.
Head Coach Denise Smith said the seniors are stepping up and being those leaders in keeping things going and staying the course.
While a team weakness is lack of experience in key positions, Smith said the Longhorns’ strengths are how they deal with things and helping each other through it.
The group will work towards team goals of improving as the season goes on, competing as best they can, learning from their experiences and enjoy the game and season.
As always, the season moves quickly. District tournaments are scheduled for October 2-7.
Smith said CCS has been working on its schedule to get games with teams that are closer in size and situation as to the Longhorns.
“It’ll be important for us to be competitive with those opportunities,” she added.
Much the same as in the past, Smith expects McCook, Gering, Gothenburg and Cozad to field strong teams.
Chase County’s first home game will be a doubleheader Aug. 29 against Holyoke, Colorado.
    “We’ve had some girls really step up and work at improving their skills in some key positions so I hope their hard work will pay off for everyone. I’m excited to see what the team can do,” Smith said.