WINTHROP – For the better part of two weeks, the Winthrop softball team practiced.

It wasn’t until last Friday that the Ramblers knew exactly what they were practicing for.

“For awhile we thought we’d come to practice and not have anything to do after,” said senior outfielder Emily Ellis.

With dangerously low numbers for the second straight year, Winthrop came close to canceling its softball season. It was an option that was debated for the better part of the preseason as the Ramblers primed themselves with just 10 or 11 players.

“Last week was very stressful and the kids were getting kind of frustrated with the whole situation,” said coach Lisa Hasch, who said there was never doubt in her mind that the team could succeed despite the low numbers. “We were going with 11 kids because we only had 10 last year.”

The team won just three games last year and had just 10 players. With the same numbers turning out this year, the school was concerned whether the program could continue with so few players. Hasch only had one freshman play last year and had five come out this year, from a group of 15 she had hoped to draw from.

“It’s hard when you have a big freshman class that comes up and they have all these new temptations like track and tennis,” said Hasch, who is in her fourth year. “It happens every year. It happened last year, and we ended up with only one freshman.”

The circumstances even had the veteran varsity players trying to convince classmates to play. After struggling through last year’s season with just 10 players, the Ramblers wanted to avoid that scenario.

“This year I thought there was going to be a lot of freshmen,” said senior Ashley Marcellino, who plays both infield and outfield. “Then it turned out that a lot of them were like, ‘No, I don’t want to play.’ So I did a lot of recruiting because I didn’t want it to be that way.”

When the numbers weren’t there, it had the school contemplating dropping the sport for the year. Discussion began immediately about the status of the season.

“When you’re talking about cutting a program for a year, it’s not easy,” said Mike Jack, Winthrop’s athletic director. “We were hoping that things would still work out.”

Forgoing the season was not a choice the school wanted to make. It would be devastating to the program and hurt the current group of softball players, who would miss an entire year, if they even returned to play next year.

With so few players, injury, eligibility and commitment can all be significant factors and the penalty for forfeits is pretty steep. Jack targeted the end of last week to make a final decision.

“I felt I had to give the Mountain Valley Conference an appropriate amount of time,” said Jack. “The other teams needed time to find other games.”

He met with the players last week to gauge their enthusiasm and remind them of the heftier responsibility they shared. The players sold him on their dedication to the sport and to the team.

“All of us really know each other and we encourage each other and really stick together so we’ll always have a team,” said Ellis. “We really need to work as a team. We all have to communicate with each other and stick together. Otherwise, we’re going to lose people. We’re all really close.”

Because the team made it through last year with only 10, Hasch isn’t worried about what her team can do this year. Her roster is up to 12, and she feels her club will still be competitive in the MVC.

“They look pretty good,” said Hasch. “Last year, we never got blown away. We’re looking to compete. We’re not the only school. Monmouth only has 10 or 11. A lot of schools only have 10 or 11 kids. It’s just a cycle that we’re going through.”

Some players contemplated going to other sports if the softball season was canceled, but most tried to avoid such talk. With a season now to play for, the girls are excited and glad to be competing. Winthrop opens the season against Mt. Abram on April 27.

“I play softball for fun,” said Marcellino. “Everybody on the team, they play because they like to play. It’s not whether we win the games, it’s if we have fun playing it. Last year, we didn’t do so good, but I had fun playing, and that’s all that matters.”