Teams hit wet, frozen bases
Photos by Ed Moreth Trotter Chelsea Roosma practices her bunting techniques during the first week of practice at Plains. The Plains girls are getting ready for their first game against Florence next week.
Noxon High School's softball diamond is still buried by snow, but that hasn't stopped the Lady Red Devils from getting in their practices. The 11 girls from the Lady Devs will be using the school gymnasium until the winter white stuff goes away, but head coach Mike Herbig doesn't yet see an end in sight.
Herbig said they had to schedule their first home games against Deer Lodge and Drummond at the end of March to play on Thompson Falls' field. The Lady Devils have seven returning players, including three seniors - Khelsie Green, Angela Herbig and Sarah Larkin. The number of players is a little lower than last year, but their motivation hasn't diminished, said Herbig, who's in his second year as head coach and will again be assisted by Terry Wilkinson, who's been with the team for several years.
Herbig said he has only one freshman this year and he's still undetermined on who will be pitching. Noxon won three games and lost two at the state championships last year, finishing the season with a 17-8 record.
Other than a little mud, Plains hasn't had any problems on their diamond, but Thompson Falls had to haul off chunks of ice from the infield and shovel snow from the outfield for practice, said Randy Pirker, who's in his fifth year as head coach for the Lady Hawks. Pirker had 19 girls sign up this year, slightly down from 23 of the 2007 season.
Fifteen boys from Spring Creek's Camas Ranch volunteered their time on a Saturday to help clear the field, which took about three hours.
He said he was glad that his star pitcher, Bria Howard, was injury free and ready for the season. “As far as I'm concerned, Bria is one of the best pitchers of the state,” said Pirker, who added that the senior can hurl a ball probably 50 mph. Howard was picked as an All-State player for 2005 and 2006, but was injured last year and couldn't play all season. The coach noted that Howard has six different quality pitches.
Kyla Molzhon, a sophomore, and Megan Fitchett, a junior, are also returning pitchers with good throwing arms, according to Pirker, who will be assisted this year by Gary Thompson, and volunteers Bob Crowder and Ryan Hanley. Fourteen of his team played last year. The Lady Hawks have four seniors on the team.
Pirker has been going over some of the basics in hitting, throwing and catching. He said the team is looking good. “They're very excited about playing,” he said.
The Plains Trotters softball team has a lot of hard work ahead of them, said head coach Russ Heward, but he also said they're a motivated bunch of girls who are already putting in 100 percent.
A dozen girls went out for the Plains team this year, but Heward said they may have a couple more sign up. Only five of this year's team have ever played varsity softball, he said. Three players are seniors - Gabby Reynolds, Bethany Catalanello and Dani Sorenson - but Sorenson has never played softball before, said Heward, who's in his second year as the team's head coach. He is assisted by Larry Rivinius, a former softball referee who's also in his second year with the team. The Trotters have only one freshman on the team - Brittany Spencer.
Like Noxon and Thompson Falls, the Trotters began practice last Monday. Heward said they're working on conditioning and the basic fundamentals. Catalanello, Reynolds and Emily Morigeau will be the team's returning pitchers. One of the team's biggest losses was not having Melody Earhart return to the plate as catcher, said Heward. Earhart, a senior, injured her knee last season sliding into third and was not ready to play again this season.
Heward said three of his new players have a lot of speed. The coach said the team is working hard and is motivated. “They got good work ethics,” he said. The Plains team co-ops with Hot Springs, but Heward said they haven't had any athletes sign up yet.
The Trotters begin the season with a game at Florence Thursday, March 27. On the following Saturday, the Eureka Lady Lions face the Trotters at Plains at 1 p.m.
The Lady Hawks first take the field by facing the Lady Bulldogs at St. Ignatius March 27 at 4 p.m. Their first home game is March 29, when the Lady Hawks first take on Deer Lodge at 10 a.m., then Drummond at 4 p.m. The Lady Red Devils take on the Deer Lodge Lady Wardens at Thompson Falls March 29 at noon, then face Drummond on the same day at 2 p.m.