South beat North in a 12 to 1 mercy loss on May 20, 2024. The tense rivalry has been a long going tradition between the two schools, especially in the softball world. In the past, North has paraded on a continuous winning streak, but the South JV and Varsity teams recently ended it.
The game started with close scores, until South JV led on a strong hitting streak. The team saw doubles and triples among most players, and had gone through the lineup multiple times in the first couple innings. Freshman player Kate Kalmink recalls how good the game felt in the beginning.
“The game went really well,” Kalmink said. “We (South) were up by a lot and it felt really good and helped boost our confidence.”
While North had gone on to score a run, South still kept the strong lead, as well as a strong defense against North. Players worked together to call fly balls, make plays, and overall prevent North from scoring any further runs, ending their streak.
“The team felt really good after the game,” Kalmink said. “Especially after beating North when they had such a big winning streak against us.”
North players still kept a strong spirit despite the loss. Playing a sport with friends is always fun, especially with such a strong rivalry like North vs. South. Throughout the game, players poked fun at each other whenever they would get on base or interact throughout the game. North JV player Kiley Hasting was an example of this.
“I love the North vs. South rivalry because of all the friendships on the other side,” Hasting said. “We can compete and still have good friendships, win or lose.”
