2022 – AN EMOTINAL ROLLERCOASTER
This 2022 season is behind us and, looking back, an overall successful one. The softball ladies of the Düsseldorf Senators were not only able to draw attention to themselves from a softball point of view – they go into the offseason with a balanced record – but also as a team, the ladies presented themselves as a solid unit, on and off the field.
Wins or losses play only a subordinate role for them and so it is not surprising that they hold their head high, no matter the size of a potential deficit.
“This team has such fighting qualities as I have seldom experienced,” summarizes Frank Mohr in retrospect. “They are like a battered boxer. They stagger, fall to the ground and get up again. Over and over again. But they never get knocked out. This can be quite challenging for the opponent. Our games are always a rollercoaster ride of emotions.”
Not so for the ladies on the field, who believe in themselves until the end and always find their way back into the game. A strength that even the opponents had to acknowledge.
The whole team had worked hard on themselves during the winter months and completely overhauled their technique at the plate . Even if things looked good during the pre-season, only games are really revealing. So Jülich became the first real challenge.
“We certainly played our worst game in Jülich. It was a day where a lot of things just didn’t work out. The at bats were good, something we were most worried about, but the Duchess were always in the right spot on defense and we ourselves made too many mistakes on that very side of the ball.”
The season opener was followed by three wins in a row, of which the game against Ratingen is particularly noteworthy. Solid as a team, with very good pitching, discipline at bat and solid hits, the ladies managed to beat one of the top teams in the league 9:7.
“It was an absolute thriller and held you in suspense until the end. The support from the spectators was overwhelming. It’s just great how many people watched our games, it was great fun.”
Unfortunately, the ladies’ winning streak couldn’t last and came to an end against the opponent it had started with in Ratingen.
“There was definitely more in it for us and if our starter hadn’t gotten injured, it would have remained a game at eye level. Maybe with a better ending for us.”
And indeed, this game initiated a kind of turning point. A turning point, however, not in a positive way. In the next games the team wasn’t able present their best starting lineup again and in Wesseling they even were one player short of a full 9 person lineup.
“No one likes to play outnumbered and surely not against the top team in the league, but what our girls were able to come up with, digging deep, must have impressed even the opponent. I have never seen a game played with such passion.”
Injuries and other types of absences were difficult to compensate for this season. Even if the roster could be enlarged – four new players found their way to the Südallee – the ladies are still missing three to four new players to look into a more relaxed future.
“When you see us on the field, you can only get excited about softball,” notes one of the players.
The ladies’ statistics speak for themselves when it comes to a new found hitting prowess. They managed to score exactly 100 runs and set a record with 96 hits, including 24 XBH.
Head coach Frank Mohr ensures that this is a great foundation to build on throughout the off season, as well as promising improvements on defense.
We don’t want to forget to thank all the supporters who have accompanied us throughout the year. Without your commitment and encouragement, the softball team wouldn’t be where it is now.
