Lady Giant softball team ready to live up to its potential

FREMONT – The Lady Giant softball team is ready to stop talking about potential and start making good on it.

With a roster loaded with experienced veterans with a smattering of talented underclassmen, Ross believes the table is set for a breakthrough season on the diamond.

“There is potential all over this program, it’s just a matter of reaching it, which they’re more than capable of, it just hasn’t happened yet,” said second-year coach Tony Hill. “They have to buy in to what we’re preaching, that they can, in fact, do it. Our record is not reflective of the team we are.”

A year ago, the Lady Giants posted a record of 8-20 overall, 3-11 in the TRAC. While the eight wins were the most for the program in four years, the new coaching staff brought with them a learning curve that took most of the season for the team to adjust to.

“They understand what we want and they haven’t really had that a lot in the past, so that was kind of a bump in the road in the beginning,” Hill said. “And we changed a lot of our offensive strategy, we became a lot more aggressive on the bases, looking to take the extra base. Whereas, in past years, from my understanding, it was ‘Be satisfied with what you have.’”

The Lady Giants return a crop of six seniors entering their fourth year on varsity, Addison Burmeister, Braelyn Horn, Morgan Englund, Paige Risch, Hailey Taylor and Gabby Zuniga. They’ll be joined by returning sophomore Kaylee Dodson and freshmen Mya Lenke and Mekayla Logan, though Logan’s early-season availability has been delayed by injury.

One of the biggest factors in determining how successful Ross will be in 2018 will hinge on how improved the defense will be. A season ago the Lady Giants committed 108 errors (an average of nearly four per game). Those errors cost Ross a handful of losses, such as Ross’ 7-2 loss to Oregon Clay in which the Lady Giants led 2-0 through five innings.

Improved defense will be a boon for the pitching staff, led by Englund with some innings pitched by Zuniga and possibly Malayah Horn.

“(Englund) had a very up-and-down year last year,” Hill said. “She did throw three shutouts, two against Lima, one against St Ursula. She is more of a hit-her-spots, force some groundballs pitcher, which led to a lot of our struggles last year. She was getting groundballs but, with 108 errors, we’re not helping her out or playing to her strengths. We’re hoping, with our improved defense, her ERA will drop.”

Limiting unearned runs on defense will be crucial because the Lady Giant offense will have to function without its top run-producers from a year ago, particularly Chloe Swaisgood, who broke the program career RBI record and fell one short of the single-season mark and is now playing at Tiffin University.

Hill said the Lady Giants will have to play small ball and manufacture runs from throughout its lineup, rather than rely on Swaisgood or Chloe Roosen, who transferred.

“We have to move runners, be aggressive on the bases,” Hill said. “There might have to be an inning or two where we score without having a hit. Get a walk, bunt her over, steal a base and get a sac fly. Those are things we’re capable of doing. We’ll be playing for one run, as opposed to a big inning, a lot this year, especially since we see an improved defense.”

Hill said he expects Zuniga, Risch and Dodson to form the heart of the order. He said the lineup is filled with speed, which the Lady Giants plans to show off on the base paths.

Perhaps the Lady Giants’ biggest question will be which of its seniors step into fill the leadership void left by Swaisgood and Logan Lamalie.

“They’ve always been on varsity but they’ve always been led,” Hill said. “Now we have a large contingent of girls who haven’t necessarily been leaders at this level that have to step up and fill that role.

“This senior class feels a lot of pressure, with as many four-year lettermen that they have, for them to go out with eight wins, as of now, as the most wins in a season, is disappointing to them because there has always been high hope for this class. They’re very talented. They just haven’t had the success that we feel they will, or could have.”

The Lady Giants open their season Monday at Tiffin Columbian with first pitch slated for 4:30.