The Lady Crusader softball team is chasing their third state title in the last four years.
“The competition is harder so we have to play harder,” said Canterbury third baseman Maddie Posey.
They couldn’t have begun their postseason any better. You might even say it was a perfect start.
“The first district game was a perfect game,” said coach Jody Moore referring to pitcher Kama Woodall’s perfect game. Behind the freshman ace, Canterbury beat Hernando Christian Academy 15-0.
“I didn't want to jinx it and if I focused on it I knew I would give it up,” said Woodall. “So, I just wanted to focus on every pitch and make every pitch count. That's how it happened.”
Canterbury is a lethal combination of pitching and hitting. They won the 2A-8 District title outscoring Hernando Christian and Lakeside Christian 31-1. They have a team batting average this season of .340 with 25 home runs.
“We definitely have put more emphasis on out hitting this year,” said coach Moore. “It shows in how many runs we are scoring per game, but I think we share that pretty equally with defense.”
Moore is the Director of Technology at Canterbury. It figures that they are using the latest gadgets to gain an edge. They use the iPad app Right View Pro for swing analysis.
“It’s made a tremendous difference,” said Posey. “You can see what you are doing wrong and work with the coaches.”
“We do a lot of the swing analyzers,” said Woodall. “Those help a lot because you can picture what you’re supposed to be doing in your head when you are at bat. You know what to fix.”
Their pitching and hitting seem to have them poised for another crown, but Moore isn’t letting them take any team for granted.
“Nothing comes for free,” said Moore. “Anything can happen on any given day. We are not going to walk in fear. We are going to know that we have to come out every day and work hard to get better and do the things we’ve been training for the entire season.”
The Crusaders host Cambridge, in the opening round of regionals, Wednesday at 6 p.m.