The softball team finds ways to keep games light through walk-up songs and cheers.

By Josh Towner

The opening lines of “I’m in the Lord’s Army” ring through the speakers at the Ona Orth Complex as junior Jana Roste steps up to bat. Most players’ walk-up music is something to get them fired up to bat, but Roste’s song doesn’t get the team excited in such a traditional sense, especially considering the rendition she chose is sung by a children’s choir accompanied by a snare drum.

What her song does accomplish is making everyone laugh. One of the Roste family Christmas cards was captioned “We’re in the Lord’s Army.” When the team got their hands on the Christmas card, being in the Lord’s army was a joke Roste would never be separated from. The time came for players to pick their walk-up music, but Roste’s decision had been made for her.

While “I’m in the Lord’s Army” plays, the team cheers for Roste, but usually not using her name. After an Instagram post was incorrectly tagged as Roste’s brother Jared, the team began calling her Jared instead of Jana. That joke has progressed to the use of the whole Roste family, immediate and extended.

“Walk-up songs are to get you focused and pump you up to bat,” Roste said. “[What a player chooses] depends on energy demands.”

Freshman Allie Fauth’s walk-up song has a similar effect as Roste’s. Fauth walks up to 2012 cult hit “The Baddest,” by YouTube rapper Krispy Kreme. The song is a parody of mainstream rap music, This decision was inspired in part from the team’s spring break trip to Florida. One player bought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and Fauth mentioned “The Baddest.” No one had heard of the song, so Fauth pulled up the music video. The team implored Fauth to choose it as her walk-up song. Considering she was only playing on junior varsity, she decided to run with it. What did she have to lose?

Not long after she chose to use “The Baddest,” Fauth was called up to play for the varsity team. “It’s so embarrassing,” Fauth said. “In general [walk-up songs] are to hype people up to get them in their zone, but me and Jana did it to get us relaxed and loosen up.”

The team also loosens up through a variety of cheers and chants from the dugout. When freshman Amanda Gemuenden heads for the mound, one player shouts “give me a ‘G!’” and the team responds by shouting “G!” This implies that the team will go through the same process for each of the nine letters of Gemuenden’s last name, making for a chant that lasts an incredibly long time. Instead, the team starts and stops the chant with “G.”  

When any player on the team is up to bat, the team will repeatedly shout “yes,” because, as Roste put it, “it works for everybody and it’s really easy.”