A group of girls, players on the Trivium Prep softball team, drove past coach Jen Luque’s house on May 8, clad with signs and honking their horns in what has become a commonplace substitution for a birthday party in quarantine. It was not how many of the girls envisioned they might be spending their early May days.
Months earlier, the team rode home from Sedona to Goodyear in late February, starting off the 2020 season with a dominating win at Red Rock.
A 25-0 victory was the first step in the Crimson Knights’ defense of their best campaign ever in 2019, in which they went undefeated in conference play in the regular season and reached the 2A semifinal.
This year’s team boasted a solid senior class: Six players, four committed to playing in college come graduation, a rare feat for a school so small in student population that did not even have enough players to field a JV team. Most of the current seniors started all four seasons of their high school careers, and several had played together since grade school. With all the returning talent, it begged a question.
In just four years of varsity play, was this the best team in Trivium softball history?
“Yes. For sure,” said Luque.
As it turned out, Trivium did not give up a run all season after the Red Rock game. It just did not score any, either.
Spring break came, the following practices and games were called off due to rain and eventually the AIA cancelled the remainder of the spring sports seasons due to the COVID-10 pandemic. The announcement was expected, but still came as a blow.
“I was in disbelief for a while. It didn’t seem like it was happening, more like a long break. I guess some people accepted it faster than I did,” said Trivium senior Madison Hinojos.
Eventually reality set in. There was no chance to attempt a repeat of an undefeated 2A season, no chance to get revenge against Camp Verde, which had knocked off the Crimson Knights in consecutive playoffs and was a title contender yet again.
“We’d always expected to really be able to cherish this last year. As we neared the end of the season, it was about savoring the last moment on the field together,” said senior Corinne Vasiloff.
“It’s more than just not being able to play, but when we played our last game, it turned out it was one of our last chances to all be together like the family we are.”
Part of that family atmosphere comes from the rapid success the Crimson Knights have seen. Luque remembers not long ago when Trivium Prep girls played on the baseball team. When there were finally enough girls to form a softball team, most of the starters were underclassmen, more out of necessity than for their potential.
Still, Vasiloff remembers a moment in her freshman year, the 2017 season, in which the switch flipped. Trivium, with many of its girls experiencing their first full varsity campaign, played an early-season tournament at Agua Fria. The 2A knights knocked off the 5A Owls, 5-4. They defeated 5A North Canyon 16-1 two days later.
“Nobody expected us to do well, because we were a tiny school in our first year, with mostly freshmen. And we won, and it was just this incredibly wake-up call. We realized we could do something really good, and be really competitive,” she said.
“I think as a freshman, putting on the jersey for the first time, I’m thinking more about how crazy it is that we’re all at this level,” added Hinojos. “And when we started competing, we were still looking at it that way, but as it went on, I know I started thinking more about what we could do, going deep and accomplishing more on the field.”
Things only got better, as the Crimson Knights increased their staff, including the addition of Michael Spencer – the head coach of the football team that went undefeated in the 2018-19 regular seasons – and climbed to a winning record in 2017, a playoff quarterfinal appearance in 2018, the semifinals in 2019 and a legitimate chance to reach the state final in 2020.
Alas the season was cut short, and the players, while still close and constantly in communication, were left wondering ‘What if.’”
Luque said the girls hope at some point they can hold a team meal, or even a scrimmage, should the pandemic come closer to a halt, to celebrate the graduates and their accomplishments. But immediate softball thoughts move on to next season.
While many coaches of the area’s bigger schools have knowledge of the talented junior high kids, Luque is unsure of what her team will look like in 2021 and unable to predict the amount of talent coming in with the class of 2024.
She had three freshman start this season that made an immediate impact. The underclassmen will likely improve, but in a lot of the ways, this was the year to cash in on the field.
“We never know what we’re going to get because it’s all lottery based. So next year looks a lot different. I think it’s going to be more of a rebuilding year, and what that looks like exactly, I don’t know,” Luque said.
However, as she watched the parade of cars from her house drive by, around the time her Knights would likely have been in the midst of a playoff run, she was grateful. Grateful for the memories the team has shared, and the people that have been through it all in a crimson red jersey.
Not many people can pull a group of high school students – confused themselves about how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect their futures and frustrated at its eradication of traditions like prom or an in-person graduation ceremony – to do anything that does not benefit them in some way. For the team to set it up and volunteer their time, it takes a special bond.
“That’s how much love we have for each other,” Luque said.
“It’s softball, and competing, but it’s more than that, too.”
