Wild Won! Webster 15, Northwest 14

It’s a pun, not poor spelling, although with the coaching mistakes I made, a misspelling isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

We held on to win our first game of the season, sealing the game by stranding the tying run at second in the top of the seventh. A statistical quirk made Erica Waelterman both the winning and saving pitcher, as she finished up when Sami Meyer took a line drive off her pitching hand. Strong hitting was sabotaged by some overly aggressive baserunning that took us out of three different innings, but an ugly win beats an ugly loss, which this would have been.

Poor coaching didn’t help as I made an illegal substitution that cost a hit, two runs and the chance to run-rule the Lions in the bottom of the sixth. For witnesses who were confused, I called out the wrong number on a substitution, using Roschan Rao’s position number (4/second base) instead of her uniform number. Careless and almost costly.

On the plus side, every player made the line-up at some point and played in key innings. That will not always be the case. I was also guilty of premature chicken-counting as I subbed in early with an 11-1 lead. Erica and Megan McClure both made outstanding defensive plays that shut down the Northwest offense.

We have a tough opponent at home in Marquette on Tuesday. We have not matched up well with them for several years now. Then we hit the road against Cor Jesu and Francis Howell Central on Wednesday and Thursday.

The girls did a good job of staying positive, not panicking, and keeping a high level of energy on a very hot day.

Photos by Beth Kazlauskus (Thanks!)

Tentative Lineup vs. Northwest Thursday August 29, 4:15

Ritenour 8, Webster 6

In a well-played JV game on both sides we came up a little short as we couldn’t find an answer for the 3-pitcher rotation use by Ritenour. I feel like we’re capable of hitting better than we showed today, but we were a little unlucky in that we scorched at least four different “At-em” balls that less than a foot away from being hits or extra-base hits.

Sami Meyer did a good job of pitching a complete game in the heat. Catcher Erica Waelterman was outstanding behind the plate, directing both her pitcher and teammates. Kate Kazlauskus went 3 for 4 with three stolen bases. We just didn’t have a response for Ritenour’s 4-run sixth.

We’ll see the Northwest Lions tomorrow at home. Look for the line-up later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks to Beth Kazlauskus for the pictures. In addition to coaching my 39th softball team, I also sponsored 15 yearbooks. Softball and baseball are maybe the toughest sports to shoot. Outstanding!

Ready to Go -- Game 1 Tomorrow -- 4:15 @ Plymouth vs. Ritenour

Play ball! Occasionally, when both umpires arrive and the teams are ready to go we will start a little early. It doesn't happen often, but be aware.

The girls have worked hard and are developing a cohesive team that roots for each other. Our starting lineup tomorrow will tentatively look like this:

Good luck to the JV Statesmen in their 2013 season.

First Game Coming Up

The JV will open its season at home on Wednesday, 4:15 at Plymouth Field. It promises to be the hottest day of the week. Spectators will want liquids and perhaps shade.

Our opponent will be the Ritenour (orange and black) Huskies. This is a team I always think we should be, but seldom do. It has usually been a competitive, if frustrating, game.

I'm pretty close to deciding on the starting line-up for Game 1, but the girls have done a good job of making that tough on me. My starting 9 or 10 on Day 1 has never been the same as at the end of the season. Every player's stock has risen during the practice weeks and I'm looking forward to giving them a chance to show what they can do during a game. We play Northwest at home on Thursday.

There are always two or three games designated as “Non-Starter Starts.” If someone special (e.g., grandparent, or other important relative) is making a special effort to get to a game, please let me know and I’ll do what I can to get your daughter at least an appearance. I was a benchwarmer and know how hard that is.

There will be a box score and often pictures posted, usually the evening (maybe late evening) after each game. I will generally post the tentative starting line-up an hour or so prior to the game. Line-ups are not official until submitted to the umpires.

Just a few housekeeping notes:

• Picture Day is Tuesday. Black tops, black pants.

• The girls decide which uniform to wear, more or less democratically. I'm not involved in that process. I strongly recommend the girls pack each uniform top.

• We ask parents and other spectators to not engage the girls in conversation during the game. This teaches them focus and to rely on each other (teamwork).

• We have a (relatively) short team debriefing in left field after home games to discuss and teach. We then clean up and put away gear. Last year parents jumped in to help with removing bases and raking the base areas and pitcher's slab, which was much appreciated and got the girls (and me) home faster.

• JV games can run long (and slow). Pitching and fielding is more erratic. Our girls are instructed that we do positive cheering only, including recognizing good plays by the other squad. We are competitive, we want to win, but we’re not playing for world peace. At this level, it’s about learning and improving. Given the attitude of the girls, we’re going to have a great season.

• There's a free iPad/iPod/iPhone (and probably Android, don't know) app called Game Changer for those who want to score along. It’s not completely intuitive, but I think I figured it out pretty quickly. I'm staying old school because I want faster access to previous plays. If you're interested, our roster is:

4-Emily Rapp             

5-Roschan Rao                 

6-Maggie Pool                

7-Kate Kazlauskus                

8-Erica Waelterman               

9-Paton Lamprecht

10-Hannah Leatherbarrow

13-Megan McClure                      

14-Brittany Hartung

15-Maia Langdon

16-Bekah Perman

19-Molly Kurtz

20-Hannah Love

25-Madi Powers

29-AnnaClaire Bryant

30-Sami Meyer

Intra-Squad Game, 8-17-13

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to hold our annual intra-squad game inaugurating the 2013 Season. The game offered both coaching staffs our first look at our teams under game conditions. I was generally very pleased with what I saw from our JV players and took away at least one positive for each girl.

Clearly there are things we need to work on, individually and collectively, and it's our job as coaches to develop plans to make sure we're as ready to start the season as we can possibly be on August 28 at home against the Ritenour Huskies. Don't be confused, because, believe it or not, they have the same orange and black colors as Webster!

It would be great to see as many parents as possible the first game or two, mostly because it will give you a baseline to judge our finished product when we wrap up our season against Kirkwood on October 2. We judge our success on how much we improve as a team between now and then.

Speaking of improvement, sophomore parents please think about how much better a player your daughter is today than she was this time last year. The girls did a GREAT job of working year round and over the summer to improve not only their skills but their in-game decisions and application of those skills. I saw several examples today and was very pleased in their growth.

I'm looking forward to watching them learn and grow as players over the next 7-8 weeks. Thanks for your support today and in advance during the season.

Welcome to the 2013 JV Statesmen

This year's JV features the largest squad ever, 16 girls. That will present challenges, but we have tried to communicate with all of them that some roles will be limited, others very specific. Some freshmen will be using this season to develop their skills at practice so that they can compete for a bigger role on the team next year.

Cutting girls is terrible and this year was especially hard. All the girls worked to compete for a uniform and made the decision-making process a difficult one. Quite frankly, it's one reason we kept more girls than usual. Now it's up to each girl to continue working to improve and continue to challenge the coaches to make tough choices and decisions. Given the character we've seen so far, that is our expectation.

Here is our 2013 squad with uniform numbers, class, & tentative positions:

29   AnnaClaire Bryant  (9)  - P

14   Brittany Hartung (9) - C/IF

7     Kate Kazlauskus (10) - OF

19   Molly Kurtz (10) - IF

9     Paton Lamprecht (10) - IF

15   Maia Langdon (10) - OF/C

10   Hannah Leatherbarrow (9) - OF

20   Hannah Love (9) - IF

13   Megan McClure (9) - IF

30   Sami Meyer (9) - P

16   Bekah Perman (10) - OF

6     Maggie Pool (9) - OF

25   Madi Powers (9) - OF

5     Roschan Rao (10) - 2B

4     Emily Rapp (9) - P/OF/C

8     Erica Waelterman (10) - C/IF/P

Tough Year

This marks my 39th high school team at every possible level, some at Hancock, some at Webster. In many ways this is the toughest year in terms of decision-making. Never before have I had such a fuzzy picture of what decisions to make. The girls have made it very hard on us, but starting today we're going to have to suggest that some of them take a look at field hockey or cross country. It's good to know that there are at least some opportunities for girls who want to play a sport and are willing to work. I expect our team will be set by the end of practice on Friday, but there are still decisions to be made.

Welcome to Webster JV Softball, 2013

Welcome to the new home for WGHS JV 2013 season. One advantage to this site over last year's: you can sign up for notifications of new posts via e-mail or follow in other ways. Like last year, each game will feature a summary and box score. If parents take pictures of games, we'll find a way to post them , as well. To get a larger view of the box score or pictures, just double-click. Comments should also be easier to add this year, as well.

And now a word or ten on tryouts. Once again the WGHS coaching staff is facing tough decisions as the 2013 tryouts begin Monday. We expect 30+ girls to compete for JV and varsity positions. In addition, we know that we have a strong class of 8th graders in the pipeline for next year.

If a candidate does not come home at least tired, if not exhausted from tryouts, she might want to ask herself if she gave everything to the process.

Some of what's here repeats what Coach Gibson has already communicated, but this makes it official from me for the JV, as well. 

Girls are not always the best judges of their own ability. There are numerous factors that go into who gets to wear the Webster colors. If a candidate is only trying to make the Top 14, she's putting herself in jeopardy of not being on the team. Satisfaction with being better than her assessment of the Bottom 5 is a sure ticket to being cut. One dimensional players also have a limited future with Webster softball. Every candidate's goal should be to rank in the Top 5 all-around players on the team.

Parents can't want that goal for their players, players must want it for themselves. If a girl is trying out to please her parents or to pad her future college application, that's an ineffective motivation. Our players are here because they love to play softball and want to represent their school. A poor or half-hearted attitude will sabotage any skill advantage a player might have. Attitude alone won't win a spot, but it can absolutely lose one. I've cut numerous girls from the 38 teams I've coached who seemingly had better skills because they didn't demonstrate a team-first attitude. 

Speaking of that, however, you might be interested in an article I wrote for my personal blog, Worst Part of Coaching. 

Although I've made a lot of girls cry over the years (not always for bad reasons), that's never been a goal. But each girl needs to understand that she's part of something bigger than herself, a team, and that even on the JV level, decisions are seldom about her, but always about the team. Good luck to all the candidates and here's hoping our decisions are even harder than we anticipate.