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The Lone Tree Lions are getting ready to start a new softball season and have high hopes to build on a 12-14 record last year, their fourth straight season with at least double-digit wins but just shy of their first winning record in a decade.

Lone Tree will have back some of their best batters, including outfielder Vivian Zarbua, who had a team-high 28 hits and 29 runs scored in 2024 while posting a .350 batting average.

Fellow senior Rylee Shield also returns after scoring 21 runs and hitting .397 with two triples, while sophomore Addison McCullough looks to building on batting .385 and scoring 16 times.

Senior Alex Dautremont will lead the Lions’ pitching staff after recording a 3.31 earned-run average and 88 strikeouts in just under 85 innings of work. Head coach Jovonte Squiers tells KCII Sports that his team can be successful if they keep their goals simple and straightforward.

“Win the day,” Squiers says. “We’re still focused [on] one day at a time. Every day we restart, it’s 0-0, and we’ve got to go out and win that day first, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Lone Tree softball’s 2025 season opener will be Tuesday at Louisa-Muscatine.