Along with the other spring sports, the Saint Xavier softball team fell victim to the COVID-19 season cancellations last March. The Cougars were only 22 games into the spring season when it came to an end, but they have some unfinished business to attend to hopefully this spring. Junior center fielder and left slapper Lyda Robinson states, “We’re hungry to play but even hungrier to win.”
In mid-March, the Cougars were playing in Florida when they found out their season was being cut short. Eventually, the rest of their 2020 spring season got canceled due to reasons relating to COVID-19. Although they lost their last game in Florida and what would be their last game for the entire season, they finished with an impressive record of 19-3.
With the ending of sports seasons, due to COVID-19 or not, comes the loss of impactful seniors. Robinson goes on to describe the four senior leaders who the team will, unfortunately, be without for their upcoming season: Lexxie Lux, Autumn Woods, Issa Scott, and Amanda Ruskowsky.
“Lexxie Lux was one of the most consistent hitters on our team. A quiet leader that always came in clutch. Extremely hard working and had the kindest heart! Autumn Woods was such a sweet and supportive teammate. Whatever was needed, she always was there. Autumn was injured for a small part of her senior season, but she always showed up and supported her teammates! Issa Scott was one of our pitchers on our team that could HIT. She was a clutch hitter, and she was always the player you wanted up to bat when the game was close. Her spunky personality was unmatched. You could hear her cheering from a mile away! Amanda Ruskowsky was a true stud. She could pitch, field, and hit BOMBS. She started all four years at Saint Xavier and definitely left her mark. She made this team better and hungrier to win.”
Although COVID-19 also terminated the softball team’s fall 2020 season, they are not letting it get in the way of their current training. Robinson credits the new trainers, Jamie and Murph, for pushing the team to work hard and to the best of their abilities. The Cougars are lifting and conditioning right now and are looking forward to individual practices beginning soon. Fortunately, the team was also able to practice a couple of times and scrimmage once as a team in the past few weeks. According to Robinson, “Our team works hard and is striving to win a national title this year.” Looking at the Cougars’ record from last season, hearing about their current preparation and training, and having sheer confidence in this team are all reasons why they could, without a doubt, clench that national title in 2021.
While SXU fans patiently await the SXU softball schedule to come out for this year, Robinson is hopeful that the team will compete and have great success in the spring of 2021. “With the coaching, the family-like team, and great training staff behind us, we’re pretty unstoppable. ROLL COUGS!” If you’re looking for a competitive, gritty, and winning team to watch in 2021, then keep up with the SXU softball team. They could just be the next SXU team to bring home a national championship back to the southside of Chicago.