MONROE — The Monroe softball team expects to win a lot of games this season. Thanks to a new softball field on the high school’s campus, many of those wins will come in style.
The Bearcats opened the season with a 19-0 victory over Seattle Prep on their new field — a facility that would make many college teams envious.
“It’s actually like a ‘Field of Dreams,’” junior catcher/shortstop Morgan Allen said. “I knew last year that we were getting a new field and it was going to be here, but nobody knew it was going to be this nice.”
The new field comes with several features the Bearcats didn’t have at their old home, Miracle Field at Sky River Park. There are two batting cages for players to work on hitting, two bullpens for pitchers to practice pitching and warm up during games, a scoreboard in left field and “Bearcats” is spelled out on the windshields on each dugout and on the wall in left-center field.
But the best part might be the lights, which allow the Bearcats to play games at night.
“When you actually come out and play under the lights, you feel like you’re playing in a huge championship game all the time,” Allen said.
The 6:30 p.m. start time, as opposed to 4 p.m. when most high school softball teams play their games, has resulted in larger crowds.
“It’s more exciting because a lot more friends and family come because our games are later now,” junior third baseman Kacey Hvitved said. “It’s just easier for everyone to get here.”
In four games on their new field, the Bearcats are undefeated. Overall, they’re off to a 5-0 start. So far, they’ve outscored opponents 42-9 at home.
“We’re kind of cocky about our field,” Allen said. “We very much want people to respect our field and we don’t want anyone to beat us. This is our home field and so far we’re going strong.”
In addition to the field where the softball team plays, a new baseball field and a new utility softball field are expected to open for the 2017 spring sports season.
The benefits of having the new field on campus aren’t just felt on game days. Practice is made easier because the players no longer have to figure out transportation to Sky River Park. Several players said the commute was difficult because of heavy traffic in the school parking lot after classes are dismissed for the day.
In the past, players had to hustle just to be ready to start practice at 3 p.m., with many of them changing clothes in their cars. With their field now just several hundred feet away from the school building, players can make it to the field for a 2:45 p.m. practice.
“We can change in the locker room and just get out and get right to practice,” junior center fielder Megan Rybar said. “It saves us a lot of time.”
And with the batting cages and bullpens, the team can accomplish more during those practices.
“You can structure a practice to do everything and just get a ton of stuff done,” Monroe head coach Mike Birch said. “(It’s) a lot more efficient.”
The Bearcats got off to a fast start last season, opening the season 8-0 before losing four of their next five games. When they got into the heart of their schedule, where they faced Snohomish, Jackson and Lake Stevens — the other top teams in Wesco 4A — they struggled, managing just one win against the Vikings and getting swept by the Panthers and Timberwolves.
“Last year, we started really hot,” Birch said. “We just didn’t maintain that consistency. This year, we’re really working on that in practice, just that consistency.”
Birch said he’s hoping to at least split with Jackson, Snohomish and Lake Stevens this season and the goal is to secure a first-round bye, which goes to the top two finishers in the league, in the district tournament.
“We get really pumped because those are our rivals,” Allen said. “Those are the ones that we really prepare for. I think this year they’re not going to know what hit them because we’re here and we’re competing and we want to go to state — and I think we’re going to do whatever it takes to make it to state.”
Allen and her teammates certainly believe in their goal — the new field only adds to the excitement.
Birch’s favorite part of the field — “Bearcats” being spelled out in giant letters on the windshields of the dugouts and in center field — serves as a reminder to opponents that they’re in enemy territory and a reminder to the Monroe players there is no place like home.
“Just having that symbol,” Birch said, “this is where we’re going to, hopefully, make things happen this year.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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