BUFFALO, NY. (WKBW) — On the hunt for their second state title in program history, the Orchard Park softball team boarded their bus to Binghamton this past weekend for the NYSPHSAA State Championships with confidence.
After securing a spot in the Class AA title game, that confidence never wavered inside the dugout.
“I think I knew in warmups, and I don’t remember who I was talking to, but I knew we were winning this game," said senior pitcher Ava Farina. "Like we weren’t coming all this way to not win states. We all just had a feeling.”
WATCH: 'I knew we were winning': Orchard Park softball wins second state championship
"There was no doubt within each other, and I think that’s a big thing," added senior catcher Ella Sheehan. "Even when they were scoring runs, our dugout never stopped roaring. The whole entire game we were up cheering."
The Quakers lived by one motto in particular this season.
“Going into the playoffs, we had the chant of 'It’s just another turkey dinner,'" senior pitcher Reese Politowski said. "I don’t know if a lot of us felt the pressure of that game because to us it was just another game.”
Saturday’s state championship game may have been “just another turkey dinner” to this team, but when the final out of the championship game was recorded, the celebration that followed proved that maybe this game was just a little more special than the rest.
"It’s hard to describe, I was so incredibly proud of this team and the girls in general," head coach Brittany Schermerhorn added. "It wasn’t even about my feelings. I was just so relieved and happy for these girls who from day one of tryouts have said they were going to get back here and we’re going to do it and we’re going to do anything we can to get back here."
So, how did this team manifest a state title? Sheehan said it all came down to having an unselfish mentality.
“I think something unique about our team is that no matter your role on the team, you went all out, and we always supported each other, " Sheehan said.
As that bus pulled back into Orchard Park, they all supported each other one last time — but through celebration and showing off some new, flashy hardware.
