 The high school softball season is finally sliding into gear, but for Brainerd, they're already in midseason form. AJ Feldman tells us why the Warriors think they have the formula to make a deep postseason run. The Warriors are off to a 5-0 start this season, and while the offense has been hot, scoring 55 runs over that span, it'll be the defense that takes Brainerd to the next level. I have no doubt that we can hit the ball and run the bases and score runs. We're going to play defense. Our pitchers are throwing strikes and doing great and getting ahead quick, and we're always behind them to back them up. They returned seven starters from last season, and the team says they're as close as they've ever been. I think the chemistry is what is holding us together. Even if we make a bad play or something, there's always a teammate to hold us up, and our talent and skill and our hard work is paying off. It's so nice to still have that chemistry with the girls that we've been playing with forever. We really have come along. We've gotten a lot closer this year for sure with everyone, so that's really helping us. But the team has added some new faces, a trio of eighth graders who are already making an impact. Our young kids are talented. They're young. They've got a lot to learn. They are talented. It just really makes us a whole, though. We have experience. We have good senior leadership. Our junior class is really good. But then you bring in those eighth graders, and it's fun to have young kids that are talented as well. I know they were a little bit nervous at first, but they definitely showed what they could do. The Warriors have a fitting motto given the long winter and hope to use it to propel them late into postseason play. Coach actually has this motto of us being a snowstorm. So instead of one individual snowflake, we all come together to make a big snowstorm to plow over the other team. So I think that's really key, actually. Reporting in Brainerd, A.J. Feldman, Lakeland News. The Warriors are back in action tomorrow on the road. They'll travel to take on Alexandria at five. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.