After making it to the playoffs last season for the first time in seven years, the East Lady Cougars Softball Team is swinging for the fences and gearing up for another promising season. One key ingredient that truly puts the team over the top: pitcher Christina Farley (’20).

Farley, who plays second base in addition to pitching, is the only senior this year who has been on the varsity team since her freshman year. Coach Ms. Jennifer Peifer is counting on Farley to help lead the team to more victories.
“Christina has been our number one pitcher for the past three years,” said Peifer.
According to Farley, East is in a particularly competitive conference with teams such as Cherokee, Eastern, Shawnee and Lenape. Nevertheless, last year, Farley helped the team make great strides. For instance, the team beat Shawnee for the first time in recent history.

Capitalizing on this momentum, the Lady Cougars have been practicing six days a week since this year’s season began. Farley credits the practices in addition to her coaches with pitch’s improvement over the past three years.
“I definitely became a better pitcher,” Farley said. “I throw a lot harder and I’m a lot more accurate.” She is a windmill style pitcher who is apt to throw a fastball, change-up, screwball, rise, drop and drop curveball. She noted that she serves as both a starting and a relief pitcher.
Peifer added that Farley is a strong force at the plate as well as on the mound.
“She is not only a leader defensively, but she has a strong bat and hits between the top and middle of the lineup,” said Peifer. “Christina averages about 2 hits per game and usually ends up scoring when she gets on base.”

Farley has turned in consistently good batting averages over the past three years: .275 in 2017, .325 in 2018 and .320 in 2019.

In addition to a busy practice schedule, the team builds focus by having many psych parties before the games, according to Farley.

“We do a lot of team bonding,” she said. For Farley, this is one of her favorite aspects of being on the team. “It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “The girls really make it so you feel like you’re a part of a family.”

Farley also attributes last year’s success to her teammates’ support of one another. Farley said that during last year’s playoffs, which included the top 16 teams in the region, “we all came together as a team, and we kept our spirits up the whole time.”
One of Farley’s biggest influences in initially deciding to become a pitcher was her mom, who was a pitcher herself when she was younger. Farley began honing her softball skills early.

As a four-year-old, Farley began playing t-ball. When she was in fourth grade, she began pitching. Since then, she has played on travel teams including the Cherry Hill Raiders and has worked privately with a pitching coach during the off-season.
For anyone interested in playing softball in the future, Farley advises that the most important skill to have is to be able to work as part of a team and trust the other teammates. “You have to definitely work together,” she said.