In their final game of the regular season, the girls varsity softball team delivered a crushing blow with a 12-1 victory over the T.C. Williams Titans. The Atoms improved their district record to 9-5 and will be the fourth seed in the Patriot District tournament playing W.T. Woodson tonight at home. The team has previously defeated the Cavaliers twice this season.

The victory over the Titans, although celebrated, was quickly looked over as the team refocused its attention to accumulate success in the postseason.

“We need to become more aggressive when batting and eliminate mental errors,” senior captain Casey Fait said.

Despite a seven game losing streak in the middle of the regular season, the overall 10-10 team is determined to play to its strengths.

“We’ve played well defensively and if we can come out and get a few runs early we should be good,” head coach Chris Tippins said. “If our defense is playing and communicating together, we come out on top. If our defense plays well, then our offense plays well.”

The team has not made a regional appearance since the 2009 season and hopes to overcome South County and Lake Braddock, the Atoms top rivals, regardless of regular season losses.

“My goal for the district tournament is to make it to the second round and beat Lake Braddock or South County,” sophomore center fielder Jocelyn Hotter said.

During the regular season, the team encountered injuries, including a concussion to starting senior catcher Alex King, which forced her to miss a few key games, while freshman Kara Hoisington still remains unable to play with her fractured fibula.

“We’ve had such a rough year with losing games, but we still came back to win the games we needed to and held the better teams as well as we could,” Hoisington said.

There are many elements that the Atoms learned during the regular season that they plan on keeping and feel confident will transition well to their post season play.

“I want to keep up the fact that we don’t have very many fielding errors and have [senior] Justine [Niner] keep pitching really well for us,” Fait said.

Niner received second team all-district honors along with junior Anne Marie Frankfurt, King and Fait. Jocelyn Hotter and Jessica Hotter both made first team all-district.

“The team works really well together, which will benefit us and help us to play well in the district tournament,” Jocelyn Hotter said.