![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
The West Linn Lions Softball team is looking for a better result after last year’s disappointing loss in the first round of the State playoffs. Under head coach Jamie LeVeque, the Lions are hoping that this will be the season when they can finally reach the elusive second round of playoffs.
With five seniors graduating last year, including last year’s Three Rivers Player of the Year Kylie Crawford, the Lions are trying to rebuild their team.
“We had a really good team last year. It’s tough though because we lost a lot of our really important seniors,” Aubrey Pesicka, senior, said. “The team was texting them yesterday saying how much we missed them and how we want them to come back.”
The loss in the playoffs was especially tough considering how the Lions were eliminated. The Lions lost to Roseburg 6-2 in the first match of playoffs after going 13-12 all season. The loss was even harder to swallow considering the Lions have lost in the first round of playoffs before.
“Our goal overall is to just get into the second round. All the years that I’ve been on the team, we’ve never made it past the first round,” Pesicka said.
This year, the Lions aren’t going to dwell on the past. The team this year includes four players who last year were part of the Three Rivers All-League Teams: Pesicka, Karly LeVeque and Caroline MacAusland, seniors, and Briana Barzola, junior.
In the meantime, the team members are confident they will have the opportunity to make a comeback as long as they are successful during the regular season.
“Our goal is to become a better hitting team and to be playing our best softball when the playoffs begin,” Jamie said.
The Lions’ home season opener is a double header against the Dalles and Pendleton on March 17th at Rosemont Ridge Middle School.