Softball season is wrapped for Chapel Field, yet what they’ve built on the diamond will be stored for next season. In the minds of the returning players and coach, and in the case where the Section 9 Class D trophy rests for a title defense.

Whatever steam the Lions had churned in the regional tournament, Windham would pluck it out of the air. Though the Lions fell 10-1 to the Section 4 champions, an end to an unlikely playoff run stamps another beginning for the program.

Coach Bill Spanjer saw a team sluggish in heat. Warmups in disarray, a game time change, and a second inning dismantling that saw Windham threatening a mercy rule before the Lions recorded six outs.

“There’s no excuse. 
I could see it with the girls. And I told them, “Hey, you’re jumping onto a treadmill right now. This team’s coming in ready to go. You better have your feet moving’. 
And it bit us right from the get go,” said Spanjer.

Windham’s pitcher had crossed Chapel Field all game, but Bella Renwick kept the lions in base with solid contact — Chapel Field’s sole swats of the night. Yet as the Lions stole a run back in the sixth, Spanjer’s team was watching the door close on their season.

“The fact that Bella made some contact was really encouraging. They’re a good team, a really great pitcher, but they came out swinging the bat,” he added.

Yet Chapel Field has seen what it takes to reach the level. Grit. Unity, and self-belief.

What they lacked in maturity, according to Spanjer, is just on the other side. The team will return all but 5 graduating seniors, including Meghan Winter, who led the Lions offense, and on the mound. Yet the title defense begins now, and rests on this squad’s growth. It showed up at the right time, to win a title.

“So what this teaches me is, yeah, we’ve got to get to the next level. 
We’re just not there. We hold our heads high, but this is disappointing,” added Spanjer, who aims to return next season.