Bittersweet ending to an unforgettable softball season

About a month ago, I wrote about my perspective on being a member of a team, the Hewlett varsity softball team. I focused on some of the small moments and internal feelings that you share only with teammates including pep-talk huddles, peculiar inside jokes and hugs at home plate after a game-winning home run.
Our 2015 season came to a bittersweet end last week with one of these distinctly special, extra-ordinary moments.
The score was 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Great Neck North had beaten us earlier in the season (a shut us out actually). But we were home, we had last licks and we were determined to end the season with a win.
Our coach for four years, Vinny Lospinuso, called us together for what would be our very last huddle. Coach L, along with our assistant coach Tedi Schaffer, reminded us of how hard we’d worked all season long and how much we deserved to win the game. “Let’s do it for the seniors,” Schaffer said, as we all put our hands in to call “team” one last time. Then, I got ready to lead off the inning as the first hitter up at bat.
We ended up winning the game. I hit a triple past the right fielder. Then lifelong best friend, fellow senior Jamie Goldberg hit a shot over the centerfielder’s head to bring me home and win the game. It was an unbelievable finish.

Overall, our team was 10-6. Although we did not make the playoffs, we were able to defeat some of our biggest rivals in our last few games of the season. We beat Lawrence 9-2, North Shore 15-12, Friends Academy 10-2 and Great Neck North with a final score of 4-3.
It is unfathomable to think that I will never be lacing up my cleats, tucking in my jersey or soft-tossing with my teammates again. Tradition is such an important part of the Hewlett softball program, and I hope that we, as seniors, have upheld the traditions and responsibilities of the generations of players before us.
Through softball, I have become a better leader, and I know that the younger girls have learned from us and will someday too be able to say that they are more confident individuals exiting the program and entering the next phase of their lives.
To connect the recent past with the future, freshman Harper Manus will alternate game jerseys. “I will switch off,” she, said after the last game. “I’ll wear Val’s jersey one day, and Jamie’s the next.”