Rhino Softball 10U

We wrapped up our season at the USSSA Great Lakes National Championships in Columbus, IN this week. We went 2-3-1 and even though we didn’t go as far in the bracket as we all would have liked to, there is still so much to celebrate from this week alone on top of a truly incredible season!

These girls battled and went all out every game. every inning. every play. every pitch. They out scored, outhit, and outplayed their opponents just like we’ve witnessed all season long. Every single one of them contributed and had shining moments!

• Alli was blazing trails on the base paths, stealing 7 bases!
• Aubrey threw out 5 girls trying to steal (seriously, when will these teams learn not to steal on Aubs??)
• Avery’s bat got flaming hot at the perfect time sending it deep, deep, deep!
• Hadley recorded her 400th strikeout of the season (and since stopping at 400 would be silly, she added 8 more just for good measure!)
• Isla was the hype-man every team needs and kicked off a 2-out 9-run rally with a big double!
• Lynn caught a fly ball in LF for the final out to end the game in a mega win over a tough team!
• Mo was absolutely clutch when her team needed her most, helping us out big time on both sides of the ball!
• Nealy led the team with 9 RBIs this week, including a 2-run home run!
• Nikki was patient at the plate, using her tiniest strike zone in 10U history to draw several well timed walks!
• Olivia brought the team to life with a huge triple in game 2 to put us on the board!

As we close out this season, we need to give a special thank you to our coaches, Jeff, Eric, Ryan and Jerry, who tirelessly poured so much time, energy and effort into helping these girls improve and grow all season long! Thank you to our GC dad, Jeremy, who sat through all the elements (cold, pouring rain, scorching heat) to be close to the umpire and keep a perfect scorebook! Thank you to our videographers, Nick and Molly, for streaming every single game so those who couldn’t make it in person could still cheer the girls on from afar! Thank you to the ultimate ballpark DJ, Meg for always being on point with the hype music and walkup songs! Thank you to all the families who helped taxi the girls to practices and games, sat on buckets for bullpen sessions at home, threw front toss for hitting practice in the backyard, and cheered loud for every girl at every game! And last but certainly not least … thank you to the 10 amazing young ladies who worked incredibly hard, gave us everything they had, made us so proud and leave us with so many wonderful memories from the last 11 months! Thank you for an amazing season that exceeded every expectation!!!

The girls are off to a good start at Nationals - they went 1-0-1 today in pool play and are resting up for bracket play to start tomorrow! Way to go girls!!!

In the meantime, let’s hear it for Aubrey who reached 40 (+1) put outs on the season today!!! When we say she’s a beast behind the plate - we’re not being biased for one of our own. Runners are writing checks they can’t cash and Aubs is making ‘em pay!! Keep throwing it down, Aubs!!! 💪🏼

Rhino 10U is ready to rumble at Nationals! Pool play starts tomorrow morning! Let’s go Rhino!!!!

Smiles all around tonight for these girls at the Bandits vs Cascade AUSL game 😎 What else would they rather do on a 90+ degree night without a practice or a game of their own than watch the pros play?!?!

What a weekend of softball for these girls at the New Lenox Power Revolution Tournament 🥎

The girls battled through every inning, every at-bat, and every challenge thrown their way. They came into bracket play as the #1 seed after an incredible pool play performance — giving up just one run.

In true Rhino 10U fashion, the girls fought their way into the championship game with an incredible team effort. They came up just short of their ultimate goal. They walk away as runners up with their heads held high because they left everything they had on that field. But this group has so much to be proud of.

The numbers only tell part of the story:
🔥 Our pitching staff racked up 54 strikeouts over 24 innings
🔥 Aubs was an absolute force behind the plate, throwing out 6 of 14 attempted steals
🔥 As a team, every single player contributed to collect 45 hits, 28 walks, and 30 stolen bases

But the biggest highlight of the weekend wasn’t just the stats, the score board, or the shiny 2nd place finish rings — it was the fight, the toughness, the belief in each other, and the way this team continued to compete every single pitch. Exactly on point with how these girls have played all season long!

Proud of this group and the way they represent Rhino Softball. One more friendly ahead and then these girls are off to Nationals after a well deserved break next weekend. Let’s go Rhino!!! 🦏 🥎🩵

🚨 SEASON MILESTONE ALERT 🚨

Congratulations MoBomb on pitching your 200th strikeout of the season tonight!!! Keep working hard kiddo!

Shout out to our entire pitching staff for exceeding a combined 7️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ strikeouts on the season today!!! You girls are crushing it and we are so proud of how each of you show up in the circle ready to go when called upon! Let’s go Rhino!!!

🚨 🅂🄿🄾🄸🄻🄴🅁 🄰🄻🄴🅁🅃 🚨
ʀʜɪɴᴏ 10ᴜ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ʀᴜɴɴᴇʀ-ᴜᴘ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ꜱɪᴢᴢʟᴇʀ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴇᴇᴋᴇɴᴅ ɪɴ ꜱᴛ ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇꜱ!

But the wins and losses aren’t the point of this post. This post is specifically to highlight the small details that don’t make the box score at the end of the weekend. Sure, the girls pulled off some stellar clutch plays, battled some really tough teams, and fought to come back from behind in several games. That was pretty cool to see the grit behind this team on full display! But what was most special was watching them support one another and celebrate each other’s successes, because they fully understand we win and lose as a team. The smiles, hugs, high fives, pep talks, and cheers - the very, very loud cheers - that’s truly what makes this team pretty darn amazing! They play for the love of the game and for each other. And I think it’s safe to say they’re having just a little bit of fun in the process 😉
They played the Rhino way all weekend and we could not be more proud of them!! 🩵🦏🥎

Before these girls get back on the field tomorrow, we have to take a moment to celebrate another impressive milestone reached! Congratulations to Hadley on 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ strikeouts over the season! Keep crushing goals kid, we love to see your hard work paying off and your whole team is rallying behind you!