The Emmaus High School softball team had one of its best seasons in recent years in 2023. The Green Hornets finished the year with a 15-8 overall record and a 13-4 mark in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Along the way, Emmaus also qualified for both the EPC and District 11 6A tournaments, winning a game in districts. It was an up-and-down season with many highs and lows, according to head coach Richard Giering.

“The season itself was like riding a roller coaster,” said Giering. “At the beginning of the season, we had a three-game winning streak, which was then followed by a four-game losing streak, and then followed by us winning 10 out our next 11 games. But the end of the year was tough as we dropped our season finale, our first EPC postseason game and then the district semifinal.”

The Hornets earned the fourth seed in the EPC tournament and hosted the fifth seed, Northampton, on May 11, in the quarterfinal round, but fell 5-1 in the rubber match between the two teams, each team winning once during the regular season.

Following the league playoffs, Emmaus received the four seed in districts. The Hornets came out on the winning end of things and defeated fifth-seeded Liberty 11-3 in the quarterfinal round on May 25.

Next up, they met Nazareth, the top seed, in the semifinals. Emmaus beat the Blue Eagles in the lone meeting during the season, 13-2, on April 6. However, this time around Nazareth, the top seed and eventual district champion, returned the favor and won the game 9-2 last Tuesday afternoon at Pates Park in Allentown, ending the Green Hornets’ season.

“Nazareth is a great team,” Giering said. “They have a lot of talented players. It shows with how they were able to run through districts and win it all. One of our best moments this season was 10-running them during the season. The girls just ran into a hot team in districts.”

Emmaus was held to just four hits. Sadie Haefeli went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Alexis Schoonover and Daria Krout each had a hit. Schoonover and Krout are joined by eight other seniors that graduate, including Taylor Hiestand, Mason Roselli, Rachel Sherman, Kamryn Tokar, Ashlyn Sherwood, Shayla Morgan, Avaeha Schwab and Danika Barthol.

“The seniors will definitely be missed,” said Giering. “With getting to know them, it took a while, but the seniors that finished the season with us, I’m very grateful for everything they had to put up with. They will definitely be missed, but the last few years they have left the program in a good state moving forward.”