The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

Breaking News
The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

The student news site of St. Teresa's Academy

DartNewsOnline

Dart News

Loss of seniors affects softball team

by Lane Maguire

With the loss of seven seniors, the softball team struggled to find players to fill the positions for the 2011 season. New head coach and assistant athletic director Tyler Abney is confident that his young team will overcome this loss.

“Losing a large group of seniors always takes it’s toll on the program, but the four seniors we have this year have done a great job taking their own leadership roles,” Abney said in a an email. “Each has their own way of doing things and as a staff, we couldn’t have asked for much more. It didn’t take long for them to understand what we expected of each them and accept their roles.”

The team currently has a total of 19 players, most of which are underclassmen. At least two more girls are planning to try out.

However, Abney said that the ideal number would be more than 25.

“With such low numbers a lot girls bounce back and forth between the varsity and JV,” Abney said. “We would like to see larger numbers, but the situation we’re in definitely gives the girls more batting time and more opportunities to get better.”

Varsity softball player Anna Woolery agrees that the smaller numbers have not necessarily negatively affected the team.

“The loss of the seniors didn’t make the players that were already here play down or anything,” Woolery said. “We are still doing well. It’s just that we have to obviously fill in positions and our team is young and a little immature.”

Last year’s seniors made up the majority of the infield as well as center field. According to varsity softball player Krissy Bryde, these positions have been filled and the infield looks “pretty solid right now.” However, she believes that the team struggles most with having only a single pitcher, freshman Carolyn Hornbeck.

“It’s not normal and it’s tough on her arm,” Bryde said. “And also throughout the year, if she gets injured or like if her arm gets sore, she won’t pitch as well. So it’s tough. Pitching is most of the team really.”

According to Bryde, three pitchers would be a more ideal number. The team was originally expecting a second pitcher. However, she quit unexpectedly toward the beginning of the season.

“She would have been a good back-up for Carolyn [Hornbeck], which Carolyn kind of needed,” Bryde said.

According to Abney, the team is currently training junior Shaeffer Smith and sophomore Grace Bullington to pitch at the JV level, in case Hornbeck becomes injured. Besides pitcher, Abney believes that first baseman has been the next hardest position to fill, due simply to the shortage of players.

Aside from the loss of the seniors and other players who did not return, Bryde believes that this shortage of players could be attributed to the change in coaches. According to Bryde, due to the difference in coaching styles between the previous and current coaches, practice are not as “relaxed” as they have been in past years.

“Now it’s like a [more competitive] club-ball practice,” Bryde said.

Whatever the cause, Both Bryde and Woolery agree that the low numbers have put a lot of pressure on the underclassman.

“There are only four seniors and we can only do so much,” Bryde said. “The younger girls they do have to step up to the plate and I do think that they are feeling the pressure of like ‘oh, we’re only freshman or we’re only sophomores, we shouldn’t have to do this’ but it’s like ‘you’re the only ones we’ve got’ kind of thing.”

However, Abney is confident in the underclassman and sees improvement for the team.

“They’re all still learning to play the game so hopefully we can get everyone on the same page and keep moving forward,” Abney said.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

Please review the Dart's editorial policy before commenting. Please use your first and last name; anonymous comments will not be published.
All DartNewsOnline Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *