By Kaylee Darnell
Staff Writer
From getting her senior season canceled in high school to now being a freshman in college and having her spring season be a question to all, Olivia Zarantonello, focuses on what is to come from what is happening now.
Softball normally has a fall season where they compete against teams in and out of their conference, but they do not count for their season record. This fall season has been canceled to keep the safety of as many student athletes as possible.
“It’s definitely upsetting losing out on a season, but we’re viewing this as an opportunity to put in hard work and come back better than ever,” Zarantonello said.
With the questioning of even having a possible season, IU South Bend softball is doing everything in their power to maintain social distancing guidelines and taking extra precautions.
“It’s a complete 180 from what it used to be and what you’d expect it to be. We now try to maintain a distance of at least six feet away from each other as best as we can, when we can. We also wear masks a lot of the time during practice and constantly are using hand sanitizer. We are trying our absolute hardest to maintain the health of everyone, while still getting to play the sport we love,” Zarantonello said.
The softball team starts official practice on August 31, and in order to keep up with the guidelines and the safety of everyone involved, have split up practices into designated groups at designated times.
‘We have pitchers and catchers together working together, then infielders, and then outfielders. It is most definitely going to be weird when you’re used to an entire group of girls working together to now being split up completely, but again, Coach Newell is doing what is best for the team and what is best for everyone around us,” Zarantonello said.
With season still being at a halt and a complete question overall, the team is doing their part in keeping each other safe day in and day out.
Any questions regarding the upcoming season or other information on sports, you can go online to https://iusbtitans.com/.
