Softball pitcher Khloe Jensen was announced as the district 1-5A softball most valuable player on Tuesday. Khloe helped lead the softball team to a 28-9 record and a bi-district championship this season. 

“Khloe is a wonderful student, leader, player, and great person,” head coach Kevin Mills said. “And, she’s only a sophomore.” 

In her first year on varsity, Khloe played in 16 games for the team, spending a majority of her time at pitcher. She had 13 pitching appearances and ended the season with a 6-1 record on the mound. Her 3.73 earned run average was the best in district 1-5A, while her 57 strikeouts were good for third. Only a sophomore, Khloe knows winning this award will only make her want to do more during her career. 

“Being a sophomore and winning MVP was definitely a huge honor and surprise to me,” Khloe said. “I’ve put in countless hours of work and getting this award only makes me want to do more.” 

Despite the big awards and nice stats, Khloe and her team did not get here easily. They battled through adversity early in the season. In Khloe’s first two starts against Eastwood and Montwood, she gave up a combined 13 earned runs and took the only loss to her pitching record of the season. However, she was able to turn it around and give up only 14 earned runs in her next 11 appearances, while also winning six of the last seven games she started. Khloe attributes her turnaround to her team working better together down the stretch of the season. 

“The rough start was definitely tough, but we were able to overcome our hardships and learn how to work as a team,” Khloe said. “Once we began to learn each other’s strengths and how to support one another, everything else became easy to me.” 

Khloe and her team will play a best of three series against Lubbock-Cooper for the area championship starting Thursday, May 2.