Plano East softball won eight games last year. They’ve already surpassed that number less than a month into the 2023 season.

Coming into the season, new head coach and former Plano East Lady Panther Lauren Peterson expressed her desire for the team to be “proud to play here and wear EAST across their chest.” The Lady Panthers have accomplished that goal, and more.

“They [the players] impress me every day with how hard they are willing to work,” Peterson said. “They are never satisfied with the last rep. Every one of my kids has a ‘one-more’ mentality and always asks for ‘one more’ ball until they are satisfied with the result.”

Plano East is 9-4-1 so far in 2023. They’ve competed in a difficult non-district schedule, traveling to College Station, Allen and McKinney to play in tournaments.

Peterson believes East’s non-district schedule will do a good job of preparing them for the second half of the season.

“I think the pitching in our district has to be some of the best in the state,” she said. “So, I think with our preseason schedule, my kids have gotten to see a variety of pitching. I think seeing all the different pitching we have seen has helped us become better hitters. It has helped my kids work on pitch selection, and I feel like we are seeing the ball really well.”

In their trip to College Station, Plano East went 6-1 over the course of three days, beating San Marcos, Eastlake, Klein Cain, Willis and Lovejoy. In Allen, Plano East was undefeated, with one tie being their only non-win. There they defeated fellow Metroplex schools like Frisco Memorial, Arlington Martin, Prosper, Bells and John Paul II.

Three of Plano East’s four losses came in their previous tournament in McKinney against Mount Vernon, Abilene and Rockwall-Heath.

“Each kid on my team has stood out to me in their own way, and I am so proud of what they have all contributed thus far,” she said.

By Seth Dowdle

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