Due to the weather, the girls have had little opportunity to practice outside on their home field, and have seen games only against Madison and Willoughby South.
Game photos click here.
It has been a challenging spring for Kenston softball so far.
Due to the weather, the girls have had little opportunity to practice outside on their home field, and have seen games only against Madison and Willoughby South.
Over those two games, though, Kenston has improved quickly.
In their season opener, against Madison, hits and baserunners were very difficult to come by. The Bombers only had two base runners; one reached on a hit, and the other walked.
But in their second game, against Willoughby South, great offensive improvement was obvious. The Bombers increased their hit total by seven, managing eight hits and two walks. In fact, two of the hits were for extra bases.
Andrea Kale’s home run was the highlight.
“I did not hit for the first game,” Kale said, “and I was struggling to hit the second game. So I just went up to bat and I was like, I need a hit, I need to find my pitch, I need to take a deep breath. I fouled one off pretty far, and I knew that I was on it, and I said if I see my pitch I am just going to give my swing at it.
“That pitch, I saw it come, and I was like, this is my chance, and I got a good piece of it, and it went over the fence. It felt good, way to get out of a slump — that’s what I needed.’’
Kenston Head Coach Anne Dubovec added, “That was a line shot. She just got that contact. That’s the pretty swing that she’s done many times before. It was nice to see her pull the ball.”
Other highlights were senior Sophia Cartellone’s RBI and Madison Schmoldt’s 2-3 and RBI performance against Willoughby South.
Cartellone discussed her RBI and how the season is going so far.
“We are slowly but surely getting there, you know, peeling the rust off, slowly, but we’re getting there,” Cartellone said. “I think the RBI was on my second (hit). It was kind of a little dinger off the tip of my bat, but if it works, it works.”
Schmoldt also discussed her performance at the plate against Willoughby South.
“My first hit was out in to the outfield,” Schmoldt said. “I don’t think anyone was on then. And then my second one was a bunt. I usually do bunting; it’s one of my favorites because I am not a big hitter. I don’t have all that power, but it definitely felt great to lay down one.”
She added, “(We’re) definitely a little rusty, but we’re knocking it off slowly.”
Coach Dubovec discussed the challenges of starting the season having to play teams that have already been playing down south.
“Part of the disadvantage for us is the first two games of the season were conference games,” Dubovec said. “Both of them were playing in Myrtle (Beach) last week. So this is game six and game seven for both of those teams, and it’s game one and game two for us.
“Positives for the game, we’re hitting a little better, getting people on base. ‘I was really happy to see the improvement from yesterday.”
The Bombers would have a busy week ahead, taking on Beaumont (April 11), Willoughby South (April 12), Garfield (April 13), Riverside (April 14) and Bristol (April 15).
