WEST LAFAYETTE — There was no way this New Palestine Dragons team was going to let their season conclude any differently.
The entire team wanted this. They wanted the three-peat. They’ve talked about it all year.
But for the six seniors, a special group that has played together for as long as they can remember, it had to end this way. They had to make history.
They had to go out as winners.
The Dragons seniors started this journey over 10 years ago, with many of them winning a Little League state championship together. They wrapped up their time at New Palestine the same way, with a state championship.
“It just makes it so much more special. Playing with these girls, you get this bond with them,” Jaylin Calvert said. “It’s just so cool being able to play with them for so long, and just win so many different things with the same group.”
“It’s so awesome. I’ve played with these girls since the Little League,” Emma Tucher said. “Most of them are my best friends. We not only hang out during practices and on the field, but off the field we’re always together, always having so much fun.”
That’s one thing that has stood out about this team for the past two years. They always seem to be having fun.
Hitting home runs is fun, obviously. Winning games and championships is fun, too. But they have fun before, during and after games. They are smiling and laughing at practices.
It has been a rare instance where I’ve seen any member of the Dragons softball team not smiling. They hate to lose, but even after defeats to Louisville Male and Noblesville, they didn’t stay down for long.
It isn’t just the seniors who have led to the Dragons’ success, but they set the example, just as the seniors before them did.
They have learned to win together. They have learned how to put in the work together, to sacrifice for one another and for their team. All the hard work, all the time spent together over the years, paid off in the biggest way on Saturday.
“It’s been amazing. My teammates have improved so much throughout the years, and all of us have such a strong bond,” Sarah Greene said. “To be able to win it together for our last time as seniors, it’s really cool.”
What this group has been able to accomplish in the past few years is truly remarkable. I wasn’t here for the first state championship, but I read about it as I was designing the Daily Reporter in 2017.
Being there in person for the past two years, witnessing the record-breaking offense last year and now the history-making team this year, has been something special. I won’t soon forget it.
Words can’t really adequately explain what makes this team so good, what makes this group so special. You had to be there. You had to see them in person.
There’s a reason they have been ranked at the top of the state for several years, and why they’ve been highly regarded in the USA Today Super 25 poll and the MaxPreps national rankings.
They truly are that good.
It’s about more than just being skilled at the game of softball. This group is so good, so dominant, because of the bonds they’ve created, their shared vision of a common goal and the countless hours of hard work they’ve put in to achieve it.
“I think it’s just like a bond of not only friendship, but the team aspect of it,” Tatum Biddle said. “It’s really a bond that can’t be broken, no matter what. We’re all just so strong and we keep getting stronger. I think that’s a really cool thing.”
“We just all want to be the best. We’re a very competitive group, we don’t like to lose,” Macy Miller said. “We want to stay on top. We have a goal in mind and we want to all complete that goal.”
They were already in the record books in a variety of ways. They added to that Saturday, and no matter what the future holds, they’ll always be the first to ever three-peat in Indiana softball history.
It was as fitting a finish as the six seniors could have asked for.
“I’m just blessed to be able to do this with my team,” Emily O’Connor said. “These are my closest friends. To be able to make history is just one other great memory that we’re going to have together.”
