Softball action is getting in full swing this week. As the season begins, CGD Head Coach Steve TerHark looked ahead to preview what will be a momentous season.
As I look back at last season, we are beginning to make strides. The girls have been great as we prepare for the upcoming games. We just need to continue to improve.
This season, I don’t want to just participate. I want to compete. To do that, we need to continue to get better in all areas of the game from pitching to hitting. We need to keep learning. The girls need to believe and be confident.
Ultimately, we need to have nine girls to play and win. A couple of good players can’t do it. I think we have the talent to do that. I hope we can get some early wins and gain that confidence.
We have some great young pitchers who are looking good. Nyla and Tess Wibholm will be handling some pitching. So will Karlee Lehman, Indy Johnson and Haley Darland. Clarissa Hasty is also coming back and could be a first team all-conference player. Kaylie Dow is also a great catcher. We have a lot of promise with players like Mady Hennigar, Kennedy Trca, and Karlee Lehman as well.
We play in a tough conference. Webster City is always at the top. Hampton is strong. Humboldt lost some good players but will still be solid. Clear Lake has a lot of athletic girls and Iowa Falls is young but fast. But we have a good team that should be able to play against anyone. We’ll need to be ready every single night to do well in this conference.
Our goal this season is to start AND finish games. Last year we had several games where we were ahead but ended up losing. A lot of it comes down to consistent pitching.
It is going to take us some time to learn how to operate on the new turf field. We have been practicing more ground balls. Things hop a little differently on that surface.
Overall, the girls are working hard, and I look forward to seeing some positive results this season.
