Junior Halia Richter has been playing softball for 10 years. Currently, she plays competitively as a catcher for the La Salle varsity softball team and the Northwest Mayhem club team. 

Richter was a freshman at La Salle during the 2019-20 school year. “My first day at La Salle was exciting, but I was also very nervous because I didn’t know anybody,” she said. Due to the emergence of the coronavirus in March 2020, her freshman year was cut short. 

The pandemic continued to impact Richter through her sophomore year. “That was a pretty big roadblock,” she said. “It was hard with online school, being at home and trying to get to games.”

Richter was introduced to softball by her dad, who is the coach for both her club team and La Salle’s team. He “pushes me very hard,” she said. “My dad played when he was younger, so he wanted to get me and my brother into it as well.” 

In addition to her dad, Richter also takes inspiration from her pitching coach. “[She] makes me want to keep playing and be able to play in college.”

Richter has definitely noticed a difference between high school and club softball. “In club, you play tournaments, so sometimes a game doesn’t matter as much, so you can try things out differently,” she said. “In high school, more people are set in a specific position, and every single day matters.” 

Richter describes the team environment as a strong one. “When we win we are excited and happy to be there and when we lose, you can tell people are more down on themselves, but our seniors tell everyone, ‘Don’t worry about it, keep your head up and start getting ready for the next game,’” she said.

Richter has goals she plans to achieve this year with her softball team. “Our team goal is to play in at least one playoff game, but hopefully more,” she said. 

Richter doesn’t have a set path she wants to take beyond high school, but she knows she wants to pursue science.