After a dominating season last year, Lady Rajahs keep foot on the gas

After a dominating season last year, the Indio high school Softball Team is keeping their foot on the gas. For the first time ever, the Lady Rajahs polled at 15 in the CIF-SS Division 4. But they’re just getting started. They’re currently undefeated in the Desert Valley League (9-0) and are continuing to add to the win column in dominating fashion. These ladies have defeated their most recent opponents by double digits. The team is putting up unbelievable numbers, but Coach Jerri Schlickenmayer says the success is due to their chemistry and hard work. "The girls, they have a work ethic. And they come to practice with intention. They are all working on something. They know hey have to get through league to make it to the playoffs and they’re really focused on what they need to do," says Schlickenmayer. The lineup is full of star studded talent, from the rookies to the vets at this level. And one of the newest faces to the team, Freshman Jaeda Diaz, is already turning heads. In her first year suiting up for the Lady Rajahs, Jaeda already has 4 homeruns. The freshman’s hot bat has led her to lead the team in several stat columns but also to rank in the Golden State. Her 26 runs this season has placed her in the top 30 among California’s best softball players. But it’s more than just top rankings and numbers to the newcomer. She says, "I just really want to be a good teammate and just like connect to everybody and do good both on the field and school. It’s just really amazing being part of this team. Everybody on this team works well together and we it’s not individual it’s a team effort." And from her teammates, a similar sentiment when it comes to dominating in the win column. Junior Victoria Huerta, whose also come up clutch in crunch time for Indio, says she does it all for those around her. "It just takes hard work and a lot of chemistry, you know, to get the girls together and us working together as a team — being united." Victoria went on to say, "honestly we all just communicate with one another when it comes to practice and if something’s not working, we talk it out or if something is working that’s good But in the end we’re all just figuring it out one day at a time." But no matter the record, Coach Jerri reiterates the job’s far from done and every day is a new day to get better. But it all starts from not losing focus. "We have goals for every practice and I make sure that they sit down and they write out their goals because what you write down you can achieve. If you can see it, you can achieve it that’s what we’re focused on."