Warren Central’s summer softball may have ended with a loss, but you could almost feel the excitement building for the Lady Vikes team.

Clinton Christian Academy held a big lead for most of the game, but  Warren Central’s bats came alive in the fourth, and put up nine runs in a single inning.

In the end, the Lady Vikes lost 13-10, but for a team that is replacing all but two varsity starters, it was an impressive showing by a young team.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” coach Dana McGivney said. “I think we’ll be ironing out kinks halfway through the season, if not the whole season. I’m proud of their fight. They get down, but they don’t quit. A lot of teams, once they get down 10-11 runs they put their heads down and quit, and tonight they didn’t. They realized they had to fight, they could come back and they scored nine runs in one inning.”

“There’s just fundamental stuff that we have to work on, and still getting people in the right position and getting everybody ready, because we’re still trying to figure out who’s going to play where,” McGivney continued.

Replacing that many starters is difficult to say the least.

“It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve had to do that,” McGivney said. “Seven kids is a lot to replace, but I think that the potential was there, and I think that we have the pieces, we just have to get everybody on the same page.”

McGivney said she saw growth from her squad over the summer, and thought they were getting valuable experience that would pay off during the year. 

“Up to bat, we’ve had some kids step up and lay down a bunt or getting a timely hit when we needed it, and all of that, especially this summer, is really important for that development, because they haven’t been put in those pressure situations,” McGivney said. “So getting them started now and getting them more relaxed is the key to hopefully being successful throughout the season.”

McGivney said she felt consistency would come as her players continued to get more reps.

“I think it’s just more a matter of being confident all the time and understanding that we can play with anybody, our biggest enemy is ourselves,” McGivney said. “We just have to get over that hump and realize that we can play.”

“I think a lot of that has to do with being more confident with their teammates and with the positions they’re playing and being more relaxed when they come to the plate.”