Sage Keyes is excited to start her fourth year of softball at Antioch Community High School. As a member of the varsity softball team, coached by Anthony Rocco, Keyes has already begun practices and workouts even though their first game isn’t until March.

Keyes has a lot to say about her upcoming softball season.

How many years have you played softball?

“I’ve been playing since kindergarden, so that would be 12 years. I was a four-year varsity player for softball [at ACHS].”

Do you play any other sports?

“Basketball. That’s how I stay in shape for softball because there’s a lot more running in basketball than in softball. I’ve been on the varsity basketball team this year and last year.”

What do you like so much about softball?

“If you better yourself as an individual, you can better the team—whereas basketball is constant working together. Softball you have to individually do your part for offense, but for defense you have to work together. I like to say [softball] is like an independent sport; you rely heavily on your own skills. It’s a big mental game, like most sports.

You just gotta go and play. In the end it’s all just a game. I do it for the enjoyment, as well as for the learning aspect of it, not necessarily sports-related. It’s cool to see how people can come together and get something accomplished when we really set a goal and set our minds to it.”

What position do you play?

“I usually play right field, but I think for senior year I’ll be playing more first base. The position doesn’t really matter to me—playing is really all that matters.”

What are you most excited about for this final year of ACHS softball?

“I don’t really plan on playing school ball for college. I’ll play intramural sports, but this year is kind of just like a big wrap-up of my collective seasons and career. This will probably be my last competitive season in softball, as of right now. We do have senior day stuff, like any other normal team, but other than that, it’ll be cool to see how we turn out this season. It’s kind of a rebuilding year because we lost some big seniors last year.”

What are your personal strengths and weaknesses on the field?

“I like to think that I can push other people [to do better], but when it comes to bringing myself out of a slump—that’s harder. It’s easier for me to motivate other people do to stuff, but when I’m having my own struggles, it’s hard sometimes to pull yourself out. But teammates are always really good about helping, so it’s never a struggle that I’ll have to face alone.”

How did the softball team do last year, and what do we have to look forward to for this year?

“We did fairly well last year. We thought last year was going to be rougher than it really was, and I think this year will be the same thing. We’re lacking a pitcher, so it’ll be cool to see who steps up. A lot of the freshmen are prospects to fill the spots seniors left behind. I think we’ll be counting ourselves as the underdogs this year, and I feel like that’s the better position than coming out from an on-top season and then falling down. It’s always cool to work your way up.”

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Support the softball players at their first game on March 18, 2014, at Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, weather permitting. Make sure to look for Keyes on the varsity team as she finishes a lifetime of playing with a strong final season.

Follow these directions from ACHS to get to Prairie Ridge.