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Joel Reichenberger

Joel Reichenberger's column appears Sundays in the Steamboat Pilot & Today. Contact him at 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com.

Steamboat Springs — It may have seemed difficult for things to get worse for Steamboat softball Thursday afternoon, the day before its doubleheader against Delta.

The Sailors were fresh off a weekend performance in which they were outscored, 32-1, in a doubleheader against Eagle Valley, and they were right in the middle of what is looking more and more like a season without a win.

But there it was: bad news. Tyra Monger broke her arm Thursday. Coach Dan Swanson said she'll be fine, but the team will be without its starting catcher and one of its best bats for the season.

It'd be easy to assume that loss, combined with Friday's lopsided doubleheader against Delta in which Steamboat fell, 18-0 and 18-3, would be enough to sink whatever remains of the team's spirits.

It's easy to assume a lot of things about the softball team. They aren't all true, however. That the Sailors fail to live up to the assumptions is an amazing trait and outweighs what they've failed to live up to on the field. The hope of getting better and the promise of a young roster has helped the team get through ugly losses.

There's certainly reason to believe the team can improve. Most of the players dotting the field Friday were softball novices, learning the game only when practices started this fall. Those who had picked it up before, typically put it right back down for the nine months of the year they're not suiting up for the high school squad.

"They're already a lot better than last year," said Eric Delaney, who's daughter, Kirsten, is a sophomore on the team. "They are coming home with a lot more smiles."

Long-term hope resides in a close group of underclassmen who want to stay with the team throughout high school. Without a summer program to refine their skills and without a middle school team to foster interest and teach the basics, that long-term optimism can seem a little far-fetched.

After Friday's games, the team was happy, laughing and joking - not because the players didn't care about the score, but because they were having fun.

"I'm definitely glad I played all four years," said senior Darcy Hornstein, one of the team's few experienced players.

The team didn't play apathetically, but instead celebrated what it could - a good hit, a run or a big defensive out.

By all accounts, the members of the team are having a good time, and even though the score usually is lopsided, they keep trying hard.

One might look at the scorebook after a game and assume the Steamboat softball program is on the verge of folding. If one spends a few minutes with the girls, however, that proves to be another incorrect assumption.