The Elmhurst Cougars 12U softball team heads into the 2022 with a good head of steam after posting a 23-9-1 record over the fall and winter, Head Coach Melissa Folsom said.

After a productive winter of training and competition, including two-second place finishes at winter tournaments, the Cougars are jumping right back into the thick of things this spring.

The team started the spring season with a 10-5 victory over MG Muscle Black on April 14. Later in April, the team will play in two local spring round-robins, then accelerate into weekend tournament play starting the last weekend of April.

Folsom said her team is slated to play in seven tournaments during the spring, six of them local and the other in the Wisconsin Dells in June (most tournaments are USSSA-sanctioned), along with several “friendlies” throughout the season (for the team’s full schedule, click here).

Folsom has also scheduled a couple games against 13U/14U teams to prepare the girls for the next age level higher, where pitchers must start their windups three feet farther back than 12U distance (40 feet between pitcher's rubber and home plate). “Games against slightly older girls gives us an early opportunity to see what's in store for them at the next level,” Folsom said.

“This is a great group of girls who worked very hard over the winter months to prepare for the new season,” Folsom added. “I look forward to the girls having fun and playing competitive softball, and I can't wait to see their success pay off on the field!”