Softball Previews: South Putnam eyes improved offensive output to challenge in county, conference; Cloverdale aims to balance blend of upperclassmen and freshmen with Steffy taking over the Clovers

Monday, March 27, 2023
Members of Cloverdale’s softball team go through their warmup throws inside after several bouts of rain kept the playing field from being ready for early-season practices.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

In a transition year, South Putnam was able to add a win to its 2021 record, finishing 9-15 in the 2022 campaign with a 4-6 record in WIC play.

The same problems remained from the prior season, however: The Eagles didn’t produce enough runs, scoring four runs or fewer in 13 of 24 games, going 1-12 in those outings.

South Putnam head coach Mark Hamilton said the team would be focused on offense in order to build positive momentum as the 2023 season moves along.

“If we can score, our defense is really good,” Hamilton said. “We need to get the hits and score.

“We worked a lot on hitting in the offseason and we’re going to hit the ball well by the end of the season. We need someone that can step in for what we lost in Sabrina (Leonard).”

Leonard, who now plays at Manchester University, led the Eagles in batting average (.443), OPS (1.280), hits (27), doubles and triples while also holding down the circle, throwing 115 innings, allowing 135 hits, 107 runs (83 earned) and 63 walks while striking out 106.

Replacing both the offensive and defensive production will be left to a squad that will have experience at most positions though still tilts toward being a younger side.

South Putnam has two seniors in Faith Will and Kennedy Clark, along with three juniors in Jaicee Jackson, Peyton Freeman and Joscelyn Pilcher.

Sophomores include Danae Cline, Chlara Pistelli and Ariel Dooley while several freshmen join the squad in Lilah Holderfield, Alyssa Pingleton, Kyley Branam, Kallie Helton and Addison Gibson.

“Jaicee is swinging the bat well and Lilah and Alyssa swing the bat well as freshmen,” Hamilton said about the early offense. “We want the girls to compete a little bit within themselves to get the hitting up to par where it needs to be.

“Defensively, we were pretty good last year but you can’t give up four runs and expect to win when you don’t score any. Our goal is to score two runs per inning, which is not a lot to ask when you break it down.”

As far as pitching goes, Hamilton said Pingleton would get a large share of the innings but would be built up early in the season in order to be able to handle the workload of the back end of the season.

“We don’t have a dominant pitcher so we’ll have four go by committee until we can get Alyssa built up,” Hamilton noted. “Coming out of travel ball, seven innings is a lot and with 20-plus games, we want her to be strong for the end of the season.

“Jaicee and Ariel have been working on their pitching in the offseason. Addison has a lot of movement but not a lot of speed but that might throw some people off compared to others.

“We might use three pitchers in a game and try to mix things up,” Hamilton added.

As for the rest of the defense, Hamilton said the outfield had plenty of speed to spare while the infield remained solid despite a few shuffles to compensate for the graduation of Chloe Pistelli.

“We’re moving Chlara from second to left field as she’s super fast,” Hamilton said. “I had to burn her a few times in practice and couldn’t get it done; she said she wanted to play out there as she is quick and can catch the ball.

“Peyton is very much improved since her freshman year. She had to improve to see time and has done that, playing out in right field.

“Joscelyn will be in center field with an infield of Ariel at third, Lilah at shortstop, Danae at second, Jaicee at first and Faith at catcher,” Hamilton added.

Leonard left one other hole to fill in terms of leadership within the team, something Hamilton said was open to anyone who would take it as South Putnam begins play Tuesday at North Vermillion.

“Sabrina was our vocal leader and captain; we don’t have a team captain yet this year,” Hamilton pointed out. “Faith is vocal and plays an important position at catcher but I don’t know if the girls follow her yet.

“I’ve told the girls that I don’t care about grade; we need someone to step up. Jaicee does well at being a leader but needs to be more vocal.

“The girls will follow someone based on their play and hey, maybe they’ll all be captains by March 28,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully someone shines in the next few days to fill those roles where it’s being done by all of them right now.”

Cloverdale

Last year was a trying time for the Clovers, who were faced with the tragic passing of Sidney Willis days before the 2022 season began while coach Jim Spencer battled through health issues throughout the year, completing the campaign but eventually resigning after the year ended.

In to the void steps Jaime Steffy, who has seen a softball diamond or two, along with a roster that will look to lift the school back to a prominent position in softball.

“It’s been a work in progress,” Steffy said. “We’re in a rebuilding situation from the last couple of years as, in the pre-COVID years, the teams Jim, Rob Costin and Neal Jordan had were ranked in Class 2A along with my South Putnam teams and those games we played were some of the best softball games in the area for some time.

“Cloverdale has been down in numbers since COVID but prior to that, they had some really good teams. When I took the job, the goal was to get the numbers back up and get the program where it was pre-CVOID.

“We hope to take things a little deeper in tournament play and be playing our best ball by the end of May,” Steffy added. “We want to get back where the program was and go even further.”

The Clovers are off to a good start in the first area as the squad has 17 players, up from 10 a year ago, with four seniors in Hailey Caulkins, Payton Bell, Andrea Nees and Erin Johnson, along with three juniors in Gracie Haga, Abi Welton and Keeli Price.

With no sophomores, Cloverdale will rely on several freshmen to make early impacts with 10 newcomers to the squad in Alissa Calidonio, Trinity Tingle, Sarah Nichols, Sydney Bernard, Paisley Meyerrose, Callie Smith, Brooklee Martin and Dakota Allee. Former Clover head coach Greg Crum returns as an assistant to Steffy.

Steffy was quick to credit the seniors for being willing to adapt to anything the new staff had thrown their way.

“Those girls have done everything I’ve asked,” Steffy said. “It’s a tough situation, being a senior with a new head coach.

“It doesn’t matter what sport it is, there are new expectations and ideas and those girls have to be really open-minded to adjust to a different philosophy, having struggled last year on top of that. When I was a senior in high school, I had a new head coach in football, basketball and baseball, so I understand what they’re going through.

“They’ve really adapted, though, and done everything I’ve asked of them,” Steffy added.

On the other end, Steffy, a social studies teacher at the middle school, was familiar with the entire freshman class and was eager to see how they would slot it into the squad.

“I really like this group,” Steffy said. “Having taught them as seventh-and-eighth graders, when I came in as coach, that was the group I was more familiar with from a personal personally, academically and socially.

“We would talk softball from time to time and there’s a comfort level I have with that group. The transition to a new coach has gone well and we’re looking at possibly starting five freshmen in the varsity lineup and another one or two more in the squad.

“Several play travel ball, which helps them with the speed of the variety game,” Steffy added. “We’ve got a lot of exceptions for them and they’ve done well so far.” 

While getting the balance right ahead of the new season was at the forefront of Steffy’s thoughts, rebuilding the link from the high school to the youth league was also an important area of development as Steffy said the team was prepared to get going with the opening game April 3 with Dugger Union visiting.

“We’ve added some games as that was want I wanted us to do this season,” Steffy said. “With the added numbers, we’ve been able to get more games on the schedule.

“With the help of Mr. Wade and some fundraising, we were able to update our equipment and uniforms. Our youth league clinic was extremely well attended and we have a lot of new things going on with the program.

“We’re trying to get the youth league involved with the high school team and get more girls out as a result,” Steffy added. “It helps that I see those girls in grades 5-8 every day, can talk softball with them and it bodes well for the future as we continue to grow our program and work to get it where it was.”

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: