The Shepherd softball team has kept itself grounded.
Despite being on the verge of back-to-back unbeaten seasons, the Fillies have focused on the little things to put them in this position.
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“We try to win every inning, and that's our team goal. If somebody scores, we go score and out-score them," head coach Lori Goodell said. "We keep our goals small and focused and that way we're not having that big thing hanging over the top of us."
More than 40 consecutive wins – and it’s not by accident. There’s no breaks in the lineup one through nine, as Shepherd as put up 10 runs or more in 13 consecutive games.
“It's so enjoyable. We're so proud of each other, because even if one part of our lineup fails we have the next half to show off," senior Lauren Anderson said. "I think we really pick each other up and we're really accountable on each other and it's something I look forward to every game."
An incredibly talented senior class leads Shepherd, but they’ve got some gifted underclassmen, as well. In fact, an eighth grader hit a home run in the divisional title game this past weekend.
“I think it's just giving a positive example," senior Karli Goodell said. "When we're at practice we hustle. When we're at games we use our voices, we talk. When we're hitting off a tee with them, we give them advice and maybe tell them how to change their swing. We not only have three amazing coaches, we have a lot of knowledgeable players that can feed into them."
"When we partner up we try to make sure our upperclassmen are with our younger kids just to mentor or show what a drill looks like," Lori Goodell said. "Just kind of that added coach feature of eyes on that player helping them grow."
The Fillies will hope to get some home cooking at Stewart Park in Billings this weekend as they look to defend their Class B/C state title with three simple words: Drive, develop, dominate.
