In the early weeks of softball season, the Jefferson-Morgan softball team met at Camryn Dugans house to visit her dad, Chris. For anyone who does not know who Chris is, he was the coach that has been teaching my group of girls since we were 7. He was a role model for all of us and even when his cancer started to worsen, the team decided we would fight for him just like he fought for us. It was right before the team trip to Myrtle Beach for the Ripken Experience Pre-Season Tournament. Prior to departure, Chris wanted to speak to the team about goals and give us a speech about this season being one to remember. Little did we know, in a matter of three months, we would have our hands on a WPIAL title. While at the Dugan household, we had conversation about the teams we hate and the teams he expected us to beat and how he expected us to be a team and look after each other. He talked about how he wanted us to win the section, and how it was doable with the talent that was on the team. As for Myrtle, we had a falling out with the team but it was resolved and the season went underway.

A loss to Chartiers Houston, which had won the WPIAL title frequently in the recent years, five games in the season was heart breaking. It was only a few games into the season and we had already lost our first game to a section team. Despite the hard loss, we fought hard all season and it came down to a hit by Camryn Dugan in the bottom of the 7th, with Chris in the ambulance nearby watching the game, to be co-section champs with Chartiers Houston in the 1-0 win at home. Then started playoffs. For the first few rounds, we relied on pitching and hitting to win games. For anyone who was there at our quarterfinals finals game against Frazier will forever remember that game. Team Dugan had just suffered a tough loss, but not on the field. Days after the tragic incident, the Lady Rockets blasted five home runs in three innings, including Camryns memorable motion to Chris after rounding third base to fly by Frazier. The team rallied for the rest of the year and ended up meeting Chartiers Houston once again in the championship. 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth in favor of the Lady Bucs. A series of hits from the top of the line up and smart base running made the score 3-2 with the winning run scored by a double from Morgan Simkovic.

Who would have thought that the speech at the beginning of the year from Chris saying he wanted a section title would turn into a section title, WPIAL championship and a state playoff run? The softball team made history that day, and it will be a day I will never forget.