The Goshen women’s softball team took a trip to Florida over spring break for the Space Coast Spring Games. They played 10 games in the span of six  days with a break on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs tallied a record of 4-6 during the tournament. Two of the highlights from the trip were the two Goshen career records that were broken by seniors Shea VanScoter, who broke the doubles record with 51, and Alyssa McDonald, who broke the triples record with 10. 

McDonald, an outfielder from Salt Lake City, Utah, said her record-breaking moment didn’t feel real to her. “When I broke the new record, it didn’t really hit. I knew it was a really good gap shot and I could definitely go three on this. My coach asked for time and he asked for the ball, and I thought that was really weird, and then it clicked in my head that I had hit this milestone and I thought that this was so crazy.”

VanScoter, a utility pitcher from Richmond, Michigan, was similarly surprised. “I didn’t even know I broke it, I’m not going to lie. The guy who runs the tournament down in Space Coast for spring training games came up to me on the last day, and he’s like ‘Well, you can at least tell me when you break a record,’ and I was like, ‘Vic, what are you talking about?’”

VanScoter also remarked on how the team is mostly focused on winning, rather than on accolades. “Not many of our girls are too tied up in stats; we more look at when we win or lose as a team. Game to game, you’re going to be disappointed in yourself or very proud of yourself and how you did that game or that day, but when it happens, it is in the history books, so you move forward with what’s next.”

Both McDonald and VanScoter have suffered injuries throughout their high school and college careers. McDonald tore her meniscus and ACL during fall ball games last year after previously tearing her ACL in high school. VanScoter has been suffering from labrum issues after a surgery following her senior year of high school.

After her injury, McDonald returned to Salt Lake and completed the end of the fall semester of her junior year at home. She recalled the stress of this time, saying, “I had surgery in November, so I had to take the rest of the semester at home, and I had to go through all of the process of getting permission to finish the semester online.” 

VanScoter’s injury still affects her today, but she manages to stay fit to compete for the Maple Leafs. She said, “I probably spend at least an hour a day in the training room either doing treatment or doing physical therapy exercises. We also monitor how much I am throwing. So there’s some days where I probably won’t throw as much as everybody else and there’s other days I might not be able to at all. It just depends on how the shoulder’s feeling.”

VanScoter often jokes with her teammates about her injury. She said, “I just love the girls around me. They’re always like ‘how’s the shoulder feeling?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, it’s there, it’s on my body. I’m an outfielder, so I take a lot of reps in the outfield, and as we are taking fly balls, I toss it off to my other player that is out there with me, and then they might call me a grandma or something. It’s just lighthearted.”

Despite her injuries, McDonald’s passion for the game keeps her coming back for more. She said, “Originally when I tore my ACL, I told people that if I tear it again I wasn’t going to play anymore, then it actually happened and I was like ‘Well I can’t quit now because I just love the game so much.’”

Coach Luke Wagner backed both VanScoter and McDonald during their injuries. McDonald said that “Coach Wagner was super supportive, he was my biggest advocate when I was getting surgery back home. He still let me come to practice, which was good because if I couldn’t come to practice I’d have lost my mind. He still allowed me to be a big part of the team and travel to games and do book.”

The softball team will play the Bethel Pilots on Friday, March 14, with the first game at 3 p.m., to kick off the spring games of the U.S. Highway 20 Cup.