Closing the Books on 2018

Season Wrap Up --

After the records we set in 2017, including most wins (22) and winning percentage, it occurred to me that I should seriously think about retiring. How could any team do any better? Yet, to my surprise, the 2018 squad threatened to do exactly that. Were it not for a tough loss to Kirkwood to end the season, we would have set a new winning percentage record. Although that was not to be, 2018 was another magical season, complete with two 10-game winning streaks and an overall 20-2 record.

Highlights included an exciting 3^rd place finish in the Ft. Zumwalt West Tournament, despite playing short-handed and losing only to the eventual champion; we had easily vanquished the second place finisher, Summit, earlier in the week. Our fifth straight Hancock championship lacked the drama of last year’s final, but was nonetheless satisfying as we again played without a key player. Taylor Knapp set records for most wins by a JV pitcher in both a season (17) and career (26), Caitlyn Boyle notched a new stolen base mark with 39, and Myah King pounded six (6!) homeruns, five of which cleared fences in four different ballparks (she also was walked intentionally five times).

All those stats, and more, are available below. As usual, I have also included those of previous years for those who think that’s important. I’m a fan of the Impressionist School, so JV statistics offer little more than a fuzzy replication of the season because programs vary wildly from year to year. But what is clear is that the Webster program is successfully bringing in players every year that can help our varsity program successfully compete with other schools. It was my pleasure to have coached both graduating seniors, Julia Love and Allison Peters, from our 2018 varsity District Champion squad – I’m proud of the athletes they are, but even prouder of the young women who do such a magnificent job of representing their team, their school and their community.

This piece will look familiar to sophomore parents because (full disclosure) it’s mostly copied from last year’s season-ending entry (again!). But despite protests to the contrary from some quarters, truth is truth.


We do, of course, set expectations for our program, but those expectations have nothing to do with wins, losses, or any other statistics. However, our goals are fairly consistent from year to year:

     1 – There should be a noticeable improvement in each girl’s game from the first practice in August to the last game in October.

     2 – There should be an obvious growth in team culture, and, although that may look different from year to year, a team bond and commitment to teammates must be part of that culture.

     3 – Our JV Statesmen should be, well, statesmen, maintaining a high level of sportsmanship and competitiveness that reflects positively on the district, the school, the team, and themselves. We want to be a respected and sought-after opponent.  
         4 – We should produce at least 5 varsity-ready players that Coach Gibson can think about as part of the mix for the next (2019) season. Whether that remains a shared objective remains to be seen and may require some thoughtful decision-making down the road.

     5 – Every player should be able to look back on the season as a worthwhile and enjoyable investment of her time and effort, and a minimum of 80% are looking forward and committed to continuing in the program next season, including participation in the off-season activities and workouts.

I think I can safely speak for my invaluable assistant coaches, Tim Cerutti, Kate Wylie, and David Knapp, when I declare this season a success. We are lucky to have such a large and talented coaching team, from the contracted staff to the many volunteers. I respect and enjoy working with all of them.

Parental involvement and support is something I NEVER take for granted, although, like every year, it’s been consistently outstanding. I started my coaching career at Hancock High School. By the fourth game of every Statesmen season, I have met and almost always have seen virtually every parent of every player at one game or another. I can tell you that by the end of any four year stretch at Hancock High School, I hadn’t met every parent with a senior in the program. The support and sportsmanship the parents modeled for their daughters is an integral part of our success. Thank you for that.

An additional huge "Thank you" to the girls, their parents, and fellow JV coaches who made me feel valued and validated. Whatever the future holds, those warm feelings will live in me for many years to come. I am beyond grateful for the honor and pleasure of carrying them with me.

Again, many thanks to all involved, coaches, parents, district administrators, but especially the girls themselves who never gave us less than their best, who never gave up on a teammate or themselves, for a fantastic season. There will (probably) be one more post about 2018 with some random observations about softball, coaching, and life in general. Or not. It may not always seem so, but I try not to speak (or write) unless I believe that I have something that needs to be said. I hope you enjoyed this season even half as much as I did.

Double Click on any Stat Box to Enlarge

Pioneer Revenge: Kirkwood 6, Webster 5

Sorry this is late. I needed time to decompress, not just from this game but the season – which is kind of still ongoing. Congrats to the varsity for their thrilling 2-1 (10 inning) win over the SJA Angels (who apparently abandoned them) in the first round of the district tournament.

So how much sleep did I lose after this season-ending loss? Well, some, for sure. Lots of “What ifs….” some involving coaching decisions (Might there have been a better order? Should I have walked that #8 batter {who was really the Pioneer #4 who was late to the game} in the bottom of the seventh? Should I have put some pressure on with a couple 1-out bunts?), some involving umpiring (over which I have no control, but when the Kirkwood coach notes on what would have been Strike 3 “that’s been a strike all day [and it had been]” that then turned into a flared windy single by the eventual tying run with 2 out….

Despite Myah King serving as a one-woman wrecking crew (4 for 4 and her fifth shot over the boards into a strong wind), Caitlyn Boyle giving her those runs to drive home, and stalwart pitching from TK, Kirkwood kept creating new paths to tie the score and eventually push across the winning run in one of the most exciting games of the year.

Well, turnabout is fair play and Kirkwood scored two in the bottom of the seventh to erase the run we scored in the top of that inning to regain the lead, ending our winning streak at 10 games and sending us to Serendipity with a final record of 20-2, which looks pretty darn good when you see it in black and white. And if you’d told Coach Cerutti and me in August that we could “settle” for 20-2 or take our chances, I’m pretty sure we would have said we could “settle.”

But we also wouldn’t have wanted to miss this season with these girls, no matter the record. You can look for a season wrap up later this weekend or early next week, but this was my message in the post-mortem and the fitting last words for the last regular blog post of 2018: “I.Love.This.Team.”

Finishing Strong: WG 17, Lutheran South 0

We looked to this game against the Lancers as a tune-up for tomorrow’s tilt against the Pioneers at Kirkwood, and the chance to maybe give some Orange players a shot at time to make up for a game they missed due to band obligations.

It all worked to perfection. Because I was subbing and wanted to save my favors to ride the bus tomorrow, Coach Cerutti took over the bus duties and I didn’t arrive until after stretches. I had wanted to tell the girls to play this game like it was Kirkwood, with the same intensity, the same drive that they will bring to the field tomorrow. I didn’t get the chance, but, turns out, it wasn’t necessary, because that’s exactly the approach they took, not only to this game, but every game. The three Orange players who came along fit right in when they got their chance (and they all got at least an AB) and will bring their energy with them and to us tomorrow.

With Nic Rikand in the circle, we dominated every aspect of the game and she picked up her third victory. TK closed out the game to get her work in and be ready for tomorrow. We adjusted quickly, hit the ball hard, ran the bases aggressively (Caitlyn Boyd upped her stolen base total with two bags to eclipse Olivia Weik’s JV record of 34, with one game to play), and fielded cleanly, including a drop step and retreat on a fly ball in the sun by our flex, Lydia (Lids) Beggs, who looked like she played LF every day. The Lancer hits were basically of the infield variety and Marko erased the first when the runner had the temerity to try to steal on her – not even close.

That’s about all I have (not even sure I have a worthy picture, but haven’t had time to check as I write this before heading to bed). If it’s there, well, great. If not, you’ll have to be content with the box score. See you at KHS tomorrow for a good game and a fitting finish to a tremendous year.

Five in a Row -- Hancock Tournament Champs

Looking at the brackets for Saturday’s Hancock Tournament there was some hope that both Orange and Black would be playing for plastic in the final game. We didn’t play each other, but Orange did have a shot at the Consolation Bracket trophy. Unfortunately, the host Tigers came back to score four runs (with two out) to snatch that plastic.

Our road was smoother, although it looked fraught because Notre Dame had salted their roster with a varsity pitcher. I thought that our second game would actually be the championship tilt because of that and because I doubted Valley Park, a small school with a pretty good program, could have enough to compete.

With Nic Rikand in the circle, we made short work of the Lady Gators from Gateway Science, a (relatively) new school and nascent softball program, 17-2. Taylor Knapp muscled up with her first home run and catcher Sarah (Sockeye) Sammon cleared the bases with a triple to close out the scoring in the bottom of the second in this mismatch.

For the first inning and two outs into the second, the game against the Notre Dame Rebels (who apparently have no understanding of irony in mascot choices) the game was as advertised. Then Myah King, to paraphrase that famous country western song, “ripped out their heart and stomped that sucker flat” with a monster HR well over the 215 foot fence. There was no rebel yell after that. We added five more runs in the third and Notre Dame surrendered. Six runs each in fourth and fifth shut the door behind the combined shutout of Taylor Knapp (who picked up her 16^th win) and Nic Rikand, 18-0.

In the championship contest we faced a school we’d never seen, the Hawks from Valley Park. Although we were initially told there would be no time limit, that was contradicted by the umpiring supervisor when we were briefly delayed when one of the Blue became ill. That rule reversal seemed to discombobulate the VP coach, although by that time it seemed to me she needed to worry more about the run rule than the time limit; a line drive double play with the bases loaded prematurely ended the second inning, but our run total was still 14 after three innings. The Hawk pitcher struggled with the strike zone which slowed the game to a crawl. In any case, the final closed after three and a half innings, 14-4, and we had our fifth straight Hancock championship.

It may be time to move on, although I expect we will come back to the pack next year, but if we continue to have 3 teams, this tournament probably makes more sense for Orange, which showed it could compete. Just one of the many decisions we need to make about the program in the weeks and months ahead.

A couple more notes before sharing box scores (including, New This Year! a composite box for the three games) and some more Karen Smith pictures. As is our tradition, our lineup is statistical, not strategic. The girls with the fewest plate appearances over the course of the season bat at the top and the girls with the most at the bottom. That has been questioned in the past, but one of the reasons for our success has been that we have a depth to our lineup that few JV squads can match. Game after game we have generated offense from the bottom of our order – no easy innings for the opposition. Our other advantage is that we have catchers. It's one thing to have a pitcher, but catchers who can save wild pitches, avoid passed balls, and throw out runners trying to steal is a tremendous asset. Marko and Sockeye provided that for us, and Emmy Gary showed she’s much more than competent as an emergency #3 receiver.

We still have two games to go, including the season finalé against the Pioneers at Kirkwood on Tuesday, but this team has been remarkable. Not just its 19-1 record, but in their support for teammates and cohesion, their love of the game and each other. It’s been a remarkable year. I’ll revisit this in the season wrap up, but this also seems an appropriate time to mention it.

Nicola Rikand won her second game, makes the throw to first on a tap back to her.

Welcome back, Zoe Weik. This is how a bunter/slapper gets that run home from third -- and herself to first.

Myah King's bomb (her fifth overall, fourth over the fence) broke a scoreless tie and Rebel Hearts.

When you're happy for your teammate. Love those smiles.

No option to ask for the headphones and instant replay. Caitlyn was called out. She wasn't. It didn't matter.

Sockeye Sammon easily beats the throw home. Blue got this one right.

Taylor (Don't Call Me Swift) Smith continues to drive the ball. And the search for a good nickname goes on....

Sarah Sammon lays down a perfect sacrifice bunt against the Valley Park Hawks in the first inning.