Despite sports’ prominent role in DV culture, only a few athletes eventually attain varsity in their respective sports. However, some Dougherty Valley underclassmen, specifically freshmen have overcome this challenge to participate in the highest level of competition on their school teams.

Freshman Lauren Lohe played varsity womens basketball and varsity softball for the 2024-2025 season. She previously had played for the Sorcerer Gold Softball team for multiple years prior to attending Dougherty. When starting the year on varsity softball, Lohe looked back on her athletic journey. 

“I’ve been playing [softball] since kindergarten, and I think my favorite part about it is the team aspect with great coaches throughout my years of playing and teammates that support me, which makes playing more fun,” Lohe said.

Freshman Brendan Weng similarly states that he has played baseball since he was seven years old, and was especially excited to join the high school varsity baseball team for the 2024-2025 season. Nevertheless, Weng still needed a transition period for high school baseball, even with his preceding experience

“Some of the changes from travel baseball to high school were the pitches got faster, the talent gap was smaller and the overall margin of error was much slimmer,” Weng stated. 

For softball, one of the key differences that Lohe notes between her travel and high school teams was the intensity levels. The high level of dedication to a sport that high school softball requires can often lead to burnout, but a close team, Lohe describes, leads to enjoyable practices and games. 

“The transition from travel softball to high school softball has been definitely different, because travel ball is very intense in tournaments, but we only practice once a week because everyone on the team is from all over the Bay Area,” Lohe explained. “But for high school, it’s fun to be on a team with everyone from the same school and practicing every day with the same group of girls to make connections.” 

Lohe and Weng, being freshmen in their sports, each have goals of playing their sports in college in the future, but both also try to remember to enjoy the next four years of high school as well.

During their time on the teams, sometimes pranks have occured to lighten the mood or improve mental health.

“One time during practice, our coach said to sort baseballs into left-handed curveballs and right-handed curveballs. [These don’t actually exist, because there is only one type of baseball], but I didn’t really understand anything and got really confused,” Weng recalled. “I guess that’s the freshman experience with pranks and such.”

In his daily practices, Weng notes that mentors helped him throughout the season by improving his skills at batting and fielding, while also forming a focused attitude.

“One of the teammates that helps or mentors me is [senior] Ricky [Feliciano] because he helps me stay focused and become a better infielder,” Weng explained. “ In general, all of the coaches helped me in their own way during my freshman year. Coach Reno [Zemrak] helps with defense and Coach Kyle [Stewart] helps with the fundamentals.”

With nearly a full season under her belt,  Lohe explains that it would have been difficult to get through the season without the support she received from the start. 

“In terms of mentors, I would say everyone on the team helps me in some way because originally, I came from basketball and came onto the team late,” Lohe noted.” They really supported me and showed me the ways of the team. So it’s been really helpful to have seniors, juniors and the sophomores show me the ropes of the program.”