After suffering an injury at the start of her senior year, Lydia Clubb was unsure if she would be able to come back before the softball season ended.

However, Clubb is not only back, but she is already making an impact. In less than a week and in just five games, Clubb has had seven runs scored, including
two home runs, two triples and five RBIs.

In addition, Clubb made her return just in time for senior night, where the Wildcats walked away with a 12-2 mercy rule win over Hermann Oct. 7.

“I was nervous [going into the first game] and I was scared I was going to break it again. I took everything very carefully and it worked out in my favor,” Clubb said. “I’m more confident now that I’ve played a little bit more.”

Clubb said she felt emotional on her long awaited day after having been on the varsity level since she was a freshman.

“It feels amazing. I’m glad to be back and playing with the team,” Clubb said. “I’m really glad I got to play my senior night.”

Clubb was not the only one feeling emotional on a bittersweet night, but so was Head Coach Fred Ross.

“They’re just a good group of seniors. I’ve known them since seventh grade. They’ve always been together and they always work very well together,” Ross said.

Ross was also happy to have Clubb back, crediting her quickness, batting and softball IQ.

“She loves softball and watching her play softball, that rubs off on everybody else,” Ross said. “It also gets people back to their natural position, which really helps us out and in the last five games, we played pretty well.”

With postseason fast approaching, Ross noted things are starting to turn around after a successful tournament weekend, a school record broken, a player reaching the 100-hit club and more.

“Lorelai [Kellner] is healthy, Lydia’s almost healthy and everybody’s hitting the ball. We played really well this last weekend and so we’re excited and I think we’re ready for districts,” Ross said.

This past weekend, the Wildcats won two games and lost one. To take fifth place in the tournament, Wright City beat Macon after scoring five runs in the eighth inning on a walk-off from Ava Swaringen to win 9-8.

On Oct. 3 in the Wildcats 1-0 win over Clopton, freshmen Lorelai Kellner’s 19 strikeouts not only cemented a win, but allowed her to break the school record.

Then, two days later on Oct. 5, Sophia Wegrzyn, Paige Rees and Clubb tied the school record for home runs in one game with four. Wegrzyn also recorded her 100th hit.

Wegrzyn noted her swing has improved over the past year and a half, which has allowed her to get more hits. She is currently leading the team in home runs with seven.

Wright City is currently on their longest winning streak of the season, having won four games in a row. The Wildcats have three more games before the post-season play starts and will be at home on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. to play Wellsville-Middletown.