When Jamie Jensen is forced to consider that the last days are coming up for her with the sophomores on this year's Allen Community College softball team, the coach struggles to come up with the words to describe how she is feeling.
"I try not to think about the end because it gets me emotional," Jensen said as she fought back those emotions.
Her team began the season being picked at or near the bottom of the conference. They were an afterthought in many people's mind within the conference.
"(The team) uses that as fuel to their fire," Jensen said.
Now with a huge home-stand coming up this weekend against Cowley College and Independence Community College, the Red Devils sit at 27-15 on the season and a fighting chance for positioning in the upper-echelon of the Jayhawk Conference.
"The girls know how important this week is but they are not letting it put any pressure on them," Jensen said. "They are hungry for that challenge."
Cowley is right above Allen in the standings, while Independence sits right below them, making this weekend the most pivotal to date for Allen.
"If we get the four-game sweep it will put us near the top," Jensen said.
The Red Devils could not ask to be playing better softball to enter the weekend. They are riding a 5-game winning streak and sophomore slugger Ashley Womack is coming off of a conference player of the week honor.
"She has been really strong for our program," Jensen said. "She is a player that just has that natural ability… When she gets in the box I am completely confident that she will make something happen."
As one of the top stars in the Jayhawk Conference, the Red Devil first baseman is having an exceptional season. Entering the weekend, she is batting .451 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 42 games.
"She is that spark to our fire," Jensen said. "We have a ton of bats in our lineup that can hit and we have good power everywhere, but she just lights it a little bit."
Two other developments have helped propel the Red Devils success. One is the deepening of the lineup around Womack and putting Alana Renshaw at the top of the order has really propelled the team.
"Alana isn't that power hitter, but she has been so successful because of her speed and the tools that she does have," Jensen said. "She can hit it gap to gap or she can sneak a bunt down. When she leads off with a bunt, it just lights our dugout up."
Allen hosts Cowley for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Friday and Independence comes to town on Saturday at 2 p.m. for a doubleheader of their own.
"I don't want this season to end, I wish it could go on forever," Jensen said. "This group is super special."