A supportive dugout, a talented core group of seniors and a will to win could all be factors in the Northview High School Lady Chiefs 10-0 start this season.

All of this has helped the softball team if you ask senior pitcher Misty Doran.

“This year we’re fitting together,” she said. “There’s no arguing, no bickering. They want to win.”

Doran’s 130 strikeouts in 10 games also haven’t hurt.

The mental toughness for the daughter of Jerry and Suzanne Doran shines through in the circle and she looks forward to keeping the bases clear.

“I love to strike people out,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to get a hit.”

Her father Jerry said there were signs that his daughter was serious about a future with softball when she started travel ball at age 8 or 9.

Her travel team, Extreme Energy, won the world series when she was 10. Another travel team, the 16U Aftershock, won the world series with Doran as a participant.

But it wasn’t until his daughter, as a seventh grader, was named starting shortstop for Jay High School’s varsity team that Jerry Doran knew she would have the opportunity to play in college.

Before transferring to Northview, Doran started at shortstop and was the No. 2 pitcher for the Lady Royals.

Last month Doran signed to play at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville next season.

“We’re really excited about it,” Jerry Doran said. “We hate that’s she’s going to be that far away, but we’re just thrilled about the rest of it.”

Doran’s competitive nature led to an exciting win for Northview over rival Jay earlier this season. With the game tied at a run apiece, Doran told coach Amy Holland that she wanted to try to steal home from third and end the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Doran got a sizeable jump at third base and when the catcher lobbed the ball back to the circle she took off, scoring the game-winning run and helping the Chiefs remain undefeated.

“My arm was dead so I told coach ‘I have to score right now,’” she said. “I was kind of worried about pitching another inning.”

She said her teammates didn’t know what she and Holland had planned at first.

“They were really excited and happy,” she said.

Holland said Doran receives support from her teammates.

“Our girls have her back,” Holland said. “They push her and encourage her.”

The coach added that she can always count on her pitcher.

“When I need her she steps up,” she said. “When it comes down to the wire and I need her she just finishes.”