This season’s Mexico softball seniors bring lots of talent and impact to the team, but there’s even more similarity.

Mexico Softball Senior Night Photo Gallery

The five Lady Bulldog seniors are unified in what they like about the program that has had them for four years. On Thursday, Mexico (14-10, 7-1 NCMC) won 6-3 against North Central Missouri Conference and Class 3 District 4 rival Moberly (11-12, 4-4 NCMC), but then the emotions welled up in the seniors’ eyes.

Maddy Feger, Landri Teel and Hannah Loyd hit first, third and fourth, respectively, in Mexico’s lineup and each were all-conference and all-district players last season. That trio and Kayleigh Samuelson and Bella Cummings all have played softball since they were in elementary school.

“It felt crazy being the senior in this situation,” Feger said. “We’ve seen it happen for three years, and being the actual senior doesn’t feel real.”

Loyd said there were plenty of tears shed in her first three years and saw the same thing happen with the younger players this time.

“It’s more sad seeing your friend graduate (from the program) on Senior Night than yourself,” Loyd said.

Head coach Hanna Jones wasn’t immune to the emotions either as she saw a talented group honored on Gallop Field. There was elation after seeing Mexico have a solid bounce-back offensive day following a 5-1 loss at Kirksville three days prior, according to Jones, but then the big realization hit her during Senior Night ceremonies.

Jones took over as head coach two years ago and felt blessed to inherit such a talented group. She calls Teel a “base-hit queen” for her consistency at the plate, said Loyd “brings a presence defensively” at catcher, and said Feger “tracks the ball really well” in center field and has been “awesome” as a leadoff hitter. She said Samuelson has stepped up on the field and as a leader, and Cummings has been a good teammate with a good attitude.

“I have yet to coach a group of girls that have been this talented and overall really good people,” Jones said. “I feel like I’m blessed on both sides. They have a good attitude, they work hard and they’re good leaders. They’ve taken girls under their wing this year, which I’m really proud of them for doing.”

Loyd will play softball at Pittsburg State, and Feger will do the same at Truman State. They said they each started loving softball after their fathers encouraged them to play. Teel has a similar origin but said she wanted to be like her cousin who played the game. 

Loyd, Feger, Teel and Samuelson each spent countless extra hours in the summer playing travel softball to further fine-tune their skills. Teel and Samuelson were part of the local Lunachix 07 18U squad that won a championship this past summer, but all of the seniors said Mexico’s dugout was even more special.

“Playing with your friends is a different type of team,” Teel said. “You already have these connections outside so it’s easy to make them whenever you’re playing.”

Spending a lot of time with friends is bound to create a lot of memories as the seniors have plenty that aren’t all on the field or during a game.

“The bus rides home for sure after a good ol’ dub,” Loyd said. “Even if we lose, you learn from it and you grow. You can’t hang your head on it so the bus rides home are definitely my favorite.”

Feger agreed the bus rides have always been fun because of the light atmosphere, but this atmosphere can even spread to the dugout.

“Singing karaoke is definitely one of our specialties (on the bus)," Feger said. “I really love the celebrations like after someone hits a home run or makes a good play. I love the energy that comes with that, and that’s something I think about a lot.”

The Lady Bulldogs have had their fair share of important victories over the last four years, winning 65 games and counting over the past four years. This season, they have wins over district foes Bowling Green, Kirksville, Macon and Moberly.

“Whenever it’s such a tight game and we can pull it out and win, that’s super special,” Teel said. 

With two regular season games left this week before districts begin next week, Jones said each of the seniors has a vital role to play and each is more comfortable in their respective roles. She said it would be a fitting end to at least make it beyond the district semifinals, which was the case last year.

“It feels good to give them a longer season this year, hopefully,” Jones said. “That’s our goal anyway. Our team goal in the beginning was to make it past districts. We’ve always wanted to make it a longer season for the girls.”