Panthers head to semi-finals undefeated

The Maricopa Wells Middle School softball team finished its regular season Thursday night with a 13-3 win over Toltec Middle School bringing their season record to 7-0.

The winning streak goes much further than this season however, when the panthers were perfect in 2007 and lost their only game of the 2006 season in the championship game. Last year they were able to claim the championship. Team members hope to defend their title this year.

In her first season as head coach, Melissa Buck said she was nervous going into the season from the pressure to continue the success the team had in recent years. But the abilities of the team helped to ease her nerves as the season progressed.

“The girls are fantastic all around, which made the pressure easy to deal with because of the confidence and fun I have with this team,” Buck said.

She added that the team is a star as a whole with no particular player who is better than the rest.

Besides winning all of their games so far, another positive for the girls has been the ability to play on their new field at Wells.

“The new field has meant a lot to us and we really take pride in it,” Buck said.

At the beginning of the season, Buck noted that the girls seemed to be most excited about having sliding practice on the new, soft dirt.

The Panthers will be doing more sliding on Monday during their final practice before the semi-finals. Because they finished in first place during the season, the girls will face the fourth place team, Gila Crossing Middle School. If they win, the Championship game will also be held at Wells on Thursday.

If you go:
What: Panthers softball semi-finals
When: March 3 at 4 p.m.
Where: Maricopa Wells Middle School 45725 W. Honeycutt Ave.
Cost: Free