Hannah Bronkema is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arizona College Preparatory for AZPreps365.com

AIA spring sports have had time to prepare for return to play, an opportunity the ACP softball team is not taking for granted.

Last season began with an era of unexpectedness for the Knights as Shawn Curbello took over the program. Despite COVID-19 cancelling the season, the 4-2 Knights relied on each other as a source of strength during unprecedented times.

“People were put into positions they had never played before, but they went into it with an open mind and a willingness to learn and to play. The strength of that team ended up being their unity. The way they came together as a team,” Curbello said.

With a new season of opportunity on the horizon, the Knights remain united.

“You have to make the best of it,” captain Talia Owen said, “We are able to appreciate the season a lot more because of it. We know it could end at any moment so make every moment, every game, every practice really count and don’t take any of it for granted.”

The greatest source of team bonding comes from athletic lockers, a class offered by ACP that allows the teammates to work out and focus on the pre-season together while nurturing their knowledge of the game.

“Since we’ve already been playing for months with each other,” captain Mackenzie Rhodes said, “we’ll have more time to get down what we need to do to start winning games instead of finding team chemistry and trying to bond while we’re playing our games.”

Team chemistry will help the Knights during the season, but learning basic softball fundamentals are prudent.

To learn the game, Curbello encouraged his team to begin watching softball games as a means to lay down a foundation the Knights can build and improve upon during practices.

“This year especially, we just need to watch softball and start knowing the game,” captain Lauren Kuecchler said. “Last year we did a lot of situational preparation because not a lot of people knew it. This year we need to start knowing the game earlier so we can have better technique and stronger trust for each other on the field instead of not knowing things like where we are going to throw to.”

The Knights goal is a region championship and the chance to make state, an opportunity that slipped away last season.

Looking ahead at their competition, the captains agreed that their biggest competition lies in both Tanque Verde and Fountain Hills.

“It’s a pretty close competition,” Rhodes said. “There’s not a team where we’re coming into a game knowing we’re going to lose but if we don’t get in the right mindset we could lose. If we have the right mindset, we have a chance of winning against each team this year.”

The Knights begin their season away on March 27 for an afternoon game against San Tan Foothills. First pitch is at 3:45 p.m. MST.