TUCSON, Arzona — "Winning is fun," said Empire softball head coach Shannon Woolridge. "What's better than winning, right?"
Woolridge's Ravens have done a lot of winning. Their streak is now at 38 straight games. 17 of those wins were en route to last year's state title. And, they are a perfect 21-0 to start this season.
"We have a saying, we don't need all the players, we just need the right ones," added Woolridge.
That starts with senior Kendall Freidinger. Her curve ball and screw ball have struck out more than seven hundred batters in her high school career.
"We have fun," said Freidinger. "It's not like we're winning and everyone hates each other. Everyone gets along so it's super fun and a win-win situation.
Freidinger is headed to play college softball at Weber State. Shortstop Angelina Dehler is batting over .600.
"She's one of the most determined players I've ever met," said Freidinger. "Every single practice, you would think she's in the a championship game. "She works sho hard. She has such a good attitude."
Vail has been a hotbed of softball with each of its high school having success. Empire has won three state titles in the last decade.
"I just think in the Vail community, there's just a lot of kids playing competitive travel ball," said Woolridge.
One of those kids is now one of Empire's assistant coaches. Brittany Strebing, who is Strebing's daughter, was on the 2015 Raven state title team.
"They are really good at connecting to players individually," said Dehler. "Brittanyis wise and has good points. Shannon is like a Dad to the team. He has a good way of pushing us to want to win."
"It would mean the ultimate to finish this," said Woolridge. "I just don't want the journey to end. I just enjoying being around the players and having them as part of our program."
