Whitehall’s annual trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, has helped to galvanize the team as well as explore some options.

This spring, head coach Jeff Vivian and his crew didn’t take a different approach. However, the Zephyrs will have a different look, losing some starters, returning some, and plugging in some new ones off a 20-4 (15-1 EPC) campaign last season.

In South Carolina, the Zephs had two scrimmages, an intrasquad game, and played a regular-season game against Carolina Forest, the latter that resulted in an 8-2 victory.

“We have a great week and saw a lot of good teams,” said Vivian about his party of 27 players and five coaches. “We worked on a lot different things. We made mistakes, but we learned from them.

“The girls enjoyed it, and it always is good bonding for the team. We gave them their time, and we had a no teammate left behind policy. It was a great experience for everyone, and we should benefit from it.”

After their trip, the girls returned home and opened their season here with a convincing, 17-7 victory over Allentown Central Catholic and then suffered a 4-3 loss to Liberty. Monday night, they dropped a 6-1 decision.

“At the beginning of the season, we got off to an interesting start as our depth was tested,” said Vivian. “We lost some kids to the flu and some others to injuries, so we had 22 kids for varsity and JV, so we were in survival mode. We won against Central Catholic and lost to Liberty.

“We didn’t play a complete game in either game. Against Central, we seemed to fade as the weather dropped. Against Liberty, we just couldn’t get a big hit when we needed it, but we battled.

“Some positives were Kassidy Nester and Morgan Laub on the mound, as they really battled and started finding outs. With our hitting, we still need to finish off some of our at-bats, but we are fighting. We were disappointed in our plate approach of some hitters at Liberty because we faced way to many 0-2 holes and that is tough to hit out of.”

Laub will handle the bulk of the pitching duties for Whitehall, and Nester will also anchor the mound.

Seniors Kate Yadush and Kate Steiner will help set the table offensively. Steiner hit .385 with a .508 on-base percentage, and Yadush hit .500 with 32 hits, including nine for extra bases, and drove in 20 runs.

Seniors Sienna Meli, Hannah Bundra, and Aubrey Steiner, juniors Bella Muth and Nya Brown along with sophomores Josephine Schultz and Molly McFetridge should all see their share of time. Brown has hit two home runs in the early going.

The Zephs will be back in action Thursday against Stroudsburg and then will face Bethlehem Catholic next Tuesday.

Despite their 1-2 start, Vivian has an optimistic outlook.

“I think our game play is ahead of schedule for the early part of the season, however, we still have to polish some of our areas while expanding our skills in others,” said Vivian. “We are a little younger, but a little deeper than previous years. We have a tough schedule in front of us, but that doesn’t change our expectations. It’s certainly still a work in progress.”