BRIGHTON — It didn’t take long for hard work to pay off for the Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School softball team.

The Seminoles started their season on the right note with an 11-3 opening day win against Osceola Middle School on Feb. 20 in Brighton.

“We’ve been working hard in practice and it showed today,” said PECS coach Kelly Smiley.

PECS starting pitcher Alyssa Madrigal struck out the first two batters of the game on her way to firing a complete game four-hitter with six strikeouts.

“Alyssa got the game ball today,” Smiley said. “She worked hard in practice and she got the start. And she did good hitting. She was our player of the game.”

The Seminoles received several outstanding plays in the field, including from Summer Gopher, Neela Jones, Carlee Osceola and Kashyra Urbina.

“Osceola came out swinging the bat, so we had to have good defense,” Smiley said.

After moving from starting catcher to center in the final inning, Carlee Osceola made a leaping catch for the final out of the game.

“Whew, that was a nice catch,” Smiley said.

PECS rallied from a 3-1 deficit thanks in part to a seven-run fourth inning.

The early season good vibes for PECS started in tryouts when 18 girls showed up. Smiley was impressed with the turnout.

“We had a lot come out to tryouts and they all showed me that they wanted to be here, so we kept them all,” Smiley said. “They all came out ready to play, so I’m going to give them a chance.”

Smiley hopes the momentum from the large turnout and the opening day win continues throughout the season.

“Everyone is lifting each other up,” Smiley said. “We’re all here to make each other better and I really like that. Everyone had a great attitude today. I didn’t hear any negativity.”