On May 1, the CESJDS girls middle school softball team ended their 0-4 season with a 12-9 loss to Washington Waldorf School.

The team played four games in total against Berman Hebrew Academy, with Berman winning 11-8; McLean, with a 10-0 victory over JDS; Washington Christian, who won 24-14; and Waldorf, with Waldorf winning 12-9. Originally, they had six games on the schedule, but three were canceled due to weather conditions, so they ultimately only played three games in the main season, followed by the PVAC quarterfinals.

While they did not win any of their games, the Lions were still able to improve throughout the season.

“I actually learned a lot more about softball. I’ve learned more about working in a team and being a team, and how it doesn’t just rely on one person, it’s very much a team sport and everyone needs to participate in order to make it a good team,” eighth-grader Mischa Trainor said.

Not only did the players develop their skills, but they also enjoyed themselves. Trainor enjoyed spending time with the entire softball team and their coach, middle school math, and science teacher Robert Shorr.

One thing Shorr would like to improve on for next year is to focus on strengthening a certain skill, like throwing, before moving onto the next skill.  While winning is fun and rewarding, Shorr emphasizes that it is not the most important part of being on a team.

“ … [T]he game is a game,” Shorr said. “There is a lot of pressure, sometimes we make a bad play and that’s what everyone sees and that’s not great, but what’s more important is that we show improvement and that we show that we care.”