NEWPORT NEWS, VA (WTKR)- Winning a national championship is hard enough. Many athletes will tell you that getting back to the top the following year is even tougher.
That's exactly what the Christopher Newport softball team is trying to accomplish in 2023. The Captains rolled to a 47-1 record during their title run and are out to a 23-5 mark this time around with four games remaining in the regular season.
"Being 23-5 with the schedule that we played this year, I will take it, knowing the inexperience that we had coming in this year," head coach Keith Parr said. "We should easily only be sitting at maybe one or two losses right now, but those are learning experiences. Those are things that hopefully help carry us over as we go on the rest of the season.
"We are a little bit surprised at how good our young team is and how everybody stepped up in the positions that they were put in," added senior outfielder Abby Rochette. "Obviously it was some big shoes to fill from last year, but I think everybody really did what they could to fill them and we made the season our own."
CNU lost seven key seniors from last year's title team, but this year's Captains have carried the torch. Their 1.58 ERA is good enough for tenth in the country among Division III programs, while their 40 home runs rank third nationally. Brooke Greaver's 13 home runs tie for tops in the country.
"We're just so deep," senior outfielder Nicole Apai noted. "Every kid on this team can go out there and compete every day of the week. Our lineup changes a lot and it's just because we have so much talent that everyone's ready."
The Captains certainly have a target on their backs whenever they take the field. They embrace that and are not shy about saying that their goal is to repeat as national champions and hoist the ultimate prize once again.
"We definitely talk about it," said Apai. "It's a goal. We set the standard last year and now we know it's accomplish-able. We know we can achieve it so we just want to get right back there again."
"That's always our goal," Rochette added. "Our goal every year is the end of the year in Texas is to play the national title and win again, but we know we can't do that without winning the game before us."
Christopher Newport is back in action on Tuesday when the Captains travel to Roanoke College for a double-header. First pitch is set for 3:30 PM.
