Warriors Look To Clean Up Again This Year
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - Wawasee's softball team went 19-10 last year and advanced to the regional finals. With only four seniors on that team, the Warriors return several starters and return hopes for another good season.
"Defensively, we have everyone back except for three people: Heather Vanlaningham at catcher, Jennifer Morgan at pitcher and Kathy Boggs at second base," Wawasee coach Bo O'Dell said. "We have seven letterwinners returning, so we should be a good defensive team."
Some coaches still have few, if any, starting players named.
O'Dell is not one of them. Except for a few places, he has his team ready to go for the April 15 home opener against Columbia City.
He has junior Amy Gingerich at catcher, senior Angie Hoover at first, senior Heather Levernier at second, senior Carly Beer at third, junior Kari Wortinger at shortstop, senior Jenny Szynal in the outfield and sophomore Sara Frantz in the outfield.
"We're set," he said. "With spring break coming up, we try to get everything set up so when they come back, they know where they will play."
Sophomore Megan King, junior Jaime Conn, Frantz and Hoover will pitch.
"If we can find some pitching with consistency early in the year, that will set up a lot of confidence for the end of the year," O'Dell said.
Morgan pitched several key games down the stretch for the Warriors last year. Not only do they have to replace her on the mound, they have to replace her bat in the lineup. She was the cleanup hitter.
Who will hit cleanup this year?
"That's the one thing I have to figure between now and the next two weeks," O'Dell said. "We lost a lot of power, but we do have a lot of contact hitters coming up.
"I expect we will be on base just as often. It's just that we will have to find different ways to score this year."
Wawasee went 7-5 and finished third in the Northern Lakes Conference last year. O'Dell knows winning the conference will be tough with Plymouth hanging around.
"Plymouth played freshmen and sophomores last year, and anytime you have Lisa Mattke, that puts you a couple of ballgames ahead of everybody else before the season even starts," he said. "After that, it's pretty wide open."
Warsaw Tigers
Warsaw lost nine seniors off of last year's softball team, but Warsaw coach Rod Yoder says the girls that will replace them already know what's expected of them.
"The teaching part is pretty much done," he said. "I had these kids when they were freshmen and sophomores. We spent those two years teaching fundamentals. Hopefully we'll see the execution show up."
Twelve girls are on the varsity right now. Shanna Smith and Rachel Liebsch will do most of the pitching, Yoder said, but girls will rotate at the other positions.
Yoder said four returners were at the varsity level for at least half of last year's games: Liebsch, Jill Schlotterback, Tyson Reber and Trisha Hanes.
Warsaw went 8-16 overall and 4-8 in the NLC last year. Like Wawasee coach Bo O'Dell, Yoder said Plymouth looks pretty good.
"Plymouth is probably the team to beat because of their pitcher (Lisa Mattke)," he said. "I'd say Wawasee will be nearly as strong, if not as strong, as they have been in the past. Concord will be improved. Northridge won't be as strong, but they will still be there."
And his team?
"I don't know how we'll be," Yoder said. "When you lose nine seniors...I think this will be a solid group. I'm not ready to put any predictions down."
He will begin to find out on Tuesday, when the Tigers open their season by hosting Logansport.
Manchester Squires
First-year coach Jim Troyer inherits a veteran Manchester team. Only three seniors played on last year's 9-3 team coached by Dawn Booth.
And even though this is his first year, he knows the Squires - he's umpired several Three Rivers Conference games before.
This year's scouting report? Good hitting and defense. Pitching is the big question mark.
"My infield and outfield are back," he said. "The freshmen coming in will help fill out some spots.
"The only thing we're hurting at is pitching. Two of the three who graduated were pitchers from last year, Sherri Jester and Abby Dils. They were the No. 1 and No. 2 starters."
Pitching this year for the Squires will be junior Jodie Peden, junior Katie Parker, freshman Megan Sell and freshman Kasha Wieland.
With several veterans returning, Troyer has a good idea of who will start where. When she's not pitching, Parker will chase down flyballs in centerfield. Tracie Hart and Shannon Bradley join her in the outfield.
Also, he has Heidi Wieland at catcher, Michelle Gerber at first, Missy Miller at third and possibly Erin White at shortstop. Sophomore Demara Knight and two freshmen are battling for second base.
"We have real good hitters returning from last year," he said. "Bradley will probably play right field and DH. She's probably one of my better sticks right now.
Manchester finished second in last year's Huntington Sectional. The Squires open the season this year at Fremont on April 12.
"Our defense should be good," Troyer said, "because they had a good defensive team last year. Our weak spot will be pitching.
"We could contend for (TRC title). I figure Rochester and North Miami are the teams to beat. I umpired, so I saw them last year. They return a young team and good pitching."
Whitko Wildcats
Like first-year Manchester coach Jim Troyer, first-year Whitko coach Marla Burkhart inherits a veteran team.
Whitko went 3-15 last year, and only three graduated from that team.
The things Burkhart is looking for from her players? A good work ethic by all players and leadership from her upperclassmen.
Burkhart said she does not know for sure yet who her pitchers will be. As far as position players go, she knows two for sure.
They happen to be her doubleplay combination. Junior Brittany Waybright will be at shortstop, and senior Carrie Rhoades will be at second base.
"Those are the two I know for right now," she said.
Whitko still has 13 days until its April 15 opener at South Side. Burkhart has been stressing the basics in practice.
"We have had three weeks of full-fledged practice," she said. "Ninety percent of it has been on fundamentals. Ten percent has been on game situations."
What has she learned about the strength of her team in those three weeks?
"Defense will probably be our solid area," she said.
Triton Trojans
First-year coach Eileen Malito likes her team a lot. Only one senior graduated, so several veterans return. The Trojans finished third in the Northern State Conference this year, and Malito figures they will only be better this year.
"We do have a goal of getting first in the conference this year," she said. "A couple of teams have more experience, but because of our improved pitching and defense, we should be competitive."
Anchoring the improved pitching will be Megan Sarber, Jill Klonowski and Mary Claxon, all right-handed starters. Sarber will start in their home opener at 4:30 p.m. today against Mishawaka Marian.
Also in the starting lineup today are catcher Chris Wanemacher, first baseman Wendy Banic, second baseman Kendra Blackford, third baseman Claxon, shortstop Rachael Yeiter, left fielder Amilia Devros, center fielder Amy Peterson and right fielder Kiki Hammonds.
"I think our pitching will be a lot stronger this year," Malito said. "I think the big part of this is we are getting depth on our team. We can fill positions with a couple of players, which is definitely an advantage."
Tippecanoe Valley
When first-year Tippecanoe Valley coach Lori Busenberg took over, she knew one of the first places she would go to work on with her team.
"Our hitting," she said. "They struggled last year hitting."
Valley had spring break last week, and Busenberg had only four players around. Add that to being a first-year coach. Busenberg is still learning about this team.
She has named Emily Cripe and Sabrina Newsome, both right-handers, as her starting pitchers.
Leading this year's team at the plate and in the field will be center fielder Kara Tucker and catcher Summer Groninger.
"Summer Groninger's back," Busenberg said. "She started the last two years at catcher. We have a little experience there and with Kara in center field."
Valley opens the season at Maconaquah on at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. [[In-content Ad]]
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SYRACUSE - Wawasee's softball team went 19-10 last year and advanced to the regional finals. With only four seniors on that team, the Warriors return several starters and return hopes for another good season.
"Defensively, we have everyone back except for three people: Heather Vanlaningham at catcher, Jennifer Morgan at pitcher and Kathy Boggs at second base," Wawasee coach Bo O'Dell said. "We have seven letterwinners returning, so we should be a good defensive team."
Some coaches still have few, if any, starting players named.
O'Dell is not one of them. Except for a few places, he has his team ready to go for the April 15 home opener against Columbia City.
He has junior Amy Gingerich at catcher, senior Angie Hoover at first, senior Heather Levernier at second, senior Carly Beer at third, junior Kari Wortinger at shortstop, senior Jenny Szynal in the outfield and sophomore Sara Frantz in the outfield.
"We're set," he said. "With spring break coming up, we try to get everything set up so when they come back, they know where they will play."
Sophomore Megan King, junior Jaime Conn, Frantz and Hoover will pitch.
"If we can find some pitching with consistency early in the year, that will set up a lot of confidence for the end of the year," O'Dell said.
Morgan pitched several key games down the stretch for the Warriors last year. Not only do they have to replace her on the mound, they have to replace her bat in the lineup. She was the cleanup hitter.
Who will hit cleanup this year?
"That's the one thing I have to figure between now and the next two weeks," O'Dell said. "We lost a lot of power, but we do have a lot of contact hitters coming up.
"I expect we will be on base just as often. It's just that we will have to find different ways to score this year."
Wawasee went 7-5 and finished third in the Northern Lakes Conference last year. O'Dell knows winning the conference will be tough with Plymouth hanging around.
"Plymouth played freshmen and sophomores last year, and anytime you have Lisa Mattke, that puts you a couple of ballgames ahead of everybody else before the season even starts," he said. "After that, it's pretty wide open."
Warsaw Tigers
Warsaw lost nine seniors off of last year's softball team, but Warsaw coach Rod Yoder says the girls that will replace them already know what's expected of them.
"The teaching part is pretty much done," he said. "I had these kids when they were freshmen and sophomores. We spent those two years teaching fundamentals. Hopefully we'll see the execution show up."
Twelve girls are on the varsity right now. Shanna Smith and Rachel Liebsch will do most of the pitching, Yoder said, but girls will rotate at the other positions.
Yoder said four returners were at the varsity level for at least half of last year's games: Liebsch, Jill Schlotterback, Tyson Reber and Trisha Hanes.
Warsaw went 8-16 overall and 4-8 in the NLC last year. Like Wawasee coach Bo O'Dell, Yoder said Plymouth looks pretty good.
"Plymouth is probably the team to beat because of their pitcher (Lisa Mattke)," he said. "I'd say Wawasee will be nearly as strong, if not as strong, as they have been in the past. Concord will be improved. Northridge won't be as strong, but they will still be there."
And his team?
"I don't know how we'll be," Yoder said. "When you lose nine seniors...I think this will be a solid group. I'm not ready to put any predictions down."
He will begin to find out on Tuesday, when the Tigers open their season by hosting Logansport.
Manchester Squires
First-year coach Jim Troyer inherits a veteran Manchester team. Only three seniors played on last year's 9-3 team coached by Dawn Booth.
And even though this is his first year, he knows the Squires - he's umpired several Three Rivers Conference games before.
This year's scouting report? Good hitting and defense. Pitching is the big question mark.
"My infield and outfield are back," he said. "The freshmen coming in will help fill out some spots.
"The only thing we're hurting at is pitching. Two of the three who graduated were pitchers from last year, Sherri Jester and Abby Dils. They were the No. 1 and No. 2 starters."
Pitching this year for the Squires will be junior Jodie Peden, junior Katie Parker, freshman Megan Sell and freshman Kasha Wieland.
With several veterans returning, Troyer has a good idea of who will start where. When she's not pitching, Parker will chase down flyballs in centerfield. Tracie Hart and Shannon Bradley join her in the outfield.
Also, he has Heidi Wieland at catcher, Michelle Gerber at first, Missy Miller at third and possibly Erin White at shortstop. Sophomore Demara Knight and two freshmen are battling for second base.
"We have real good hitters returning from last year," he said. "Bradley will probably play right field and DH. She's probably one of my better sticks right now.
Manchester finished second in last year's Huntington Sectional. The Squires open the season this year at Fremont on April 12.
"Our defense should be good," Troyer said, "because they had a good defensive team last year. Our weak spot will be pitching.
"We could contend for (TRC title). I figure Rochester and North Miami are the teams to beat. I umpired, so I saw them last year. They return a young team and good pitching."
Whitko Wildcats
Like first-year Manchester coach Jim Troyer, first-year Whitko coach Marla Burkhart inherits a veteran team.
Whitko went 3-15 last year, and only three graduated from that team.
The things Burkhart is looking for from her players? A good work ethic by all players and leadership from her upperclassmen.
Burkhart said she does not know for sure yet who her pitchers will be. As far as position players go, she knows two for sure.
They happen to be her doubleplay combination. Junior Brittany Waybright will be at shortstop, and senior Carrie Rhoades will be at second base.
"Those are the two I know for right now," she said.
Whitko still has 13 days until its April 15 opener at South Side. Burkhart has been stressing the basics in practice.
"We have had three weeks of full-fledged practice," she said. "Ninety percent of it has been on fundamentals. Ten percent has been on game situations."
What has she learned about the strength of her team in those three weeks?
"Defense will probably be our solid area," she said.
Triton Trojans
First-year coach Eileen Malito likes her team a lot. Only one senior graduated, so several veterans return. The Trojans finished third in the Northern State Conference this year, and Malito figures they will only be better this year.
"We do have a goal of getting first in the conference this year," she said. "A couple of teams have more experience, but because of our improved pitching and defense, we should be competitive."
Anchoring the improved pitching will be Megan Sarber, Jill Klonowski and Mary Claxon, all right-handed starters. Sarber will start in their home opener at 4:30 p.m. today against Mishawaka Marian.
Also in the starting lineup today are catcher Chris Wanemacher, first baseman Wendy Banic, second baseman Kendra Blackford, third baseman Claxon, shortstop Rachael Yeiter, left fielder Amilia Devros, center fielder Amy Peterson and right fielder Kiki Hammonds.
"I think our pitching will be a lot stronger this year," Malito said. "I think the big part of this is we are getting depth on our team. We can fill positions with a couple of players, which is definitely an advantage."
Tippecanoe Valley
When first-year Tippecanoe Valley coach Lori Busenberg took over, she knew one of the first places she would go to work on with her team.
"Our hitting," she said. "They struggled last year hitting."
Valley had spring break last week, and Busenberg had only four players around. Add that to being a first-year coach. Busenberg is still learning about this team.
She has named Emily Cripe and Sabrina Newsome, both right-handers, as her starting pitchers.
Leading this year's team at the plate and in the field will be center fielder Kara Tucker and catcher Summer Groninger.
"Summer Groninger's back," Busenberg said. "She started the last two years at catcher. We have a little experience there and with Kara in center field."
Valley opens the season at Maconaquah on at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. [[In-content Ad]]