One sport brings the most joy to Brandywine High School senior Ayralynn LaSane.

LaSane started playing travel softball in South Bend when she was eight years old and the bond between the two has remained strong to this day.

“I love it,” said LaSane about softball. “It’s a competitive sport and I like being outside.”

LaSane is now an ideal leader for the Bobcats’ softball team. It’s her third year starting on the varsity.

She provides offensive punch at the bottom of the batting order and laughs, when needed.

“She’s one of my leaders,” said first-year Brandywine softball coach Ron Hartline. “She’s a good kid and one of my goofy ones. I like having one on my team. They keep the morale up. If you let the players have fun they play harder for you.”

LaSane embraces the role of team leader.

“I feel like as a leader of this team that I need to keep us together all the time and make sure we have fun, sometimes, and be serious when we have to be,” she said.

LaSane is serious about maintaining her work ethic. She doesn’t take for granted her spot in the starting lineup and playing in left field.

“You’re never guaranteed a (starting) spot even if you’ve started before,” LaSane said. “I think I’ve improved a lot over my three years as a varsity player.”

Batting seventh in the lineup, LaSane knows she must stay focused and not give away at-bats.

“I’m not that fast, but my hitting is one of my strengths,” LaSane said. “Even batting low in the lineup there are going to be runners on and I need to get them in.”

Those opportunities came up in Brandywine’s game Tuesday against New Buffalo and LaSane delivered. She went 4-for-4 with four RBIs as the Bobcats won each game of the doubleheader, 15-0.

“I think I did well,” LaSane said. “I could have done better, but I’m proud of my performance.”

LaSane, who has signed to play softball next year at Lake Michigan College, had struggled some offensively entering the New Buffalo doubleheader.

“She’s having some issues this year, but we’ll work them out,” Hartline said. “I have confidence in her. She’s a very good hitter.”

LaSane is happy about her team’s 6-1 start, but she knows there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“I think we have a solid team,” she said. “We definitely have some stuff that we need to work on.

“Our goal is to get to the state finals this year.”