Softball team hoping for young leadership
By Daniel Schoettler
CORRESPONDENT
After a first-round playoff exit last season, Whitewater Whippets baseball is looking to go one step further in 2018.
“We got a lot of guys returning and we are young,” head coach Jim Pease said. “I think the loss of the first game was something unexpected and we were a much better team, and we have to get back at it and get ready for this year.”
The team finished at 17-7 a season ago and finished third behind Jefferson and Evansville in the Rock Valley Conference.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater commit and senior Bryce Parrish, Jimmy DuVal, and James Diedrick will lead the Whippets. DuVal led the team in batting average a season ago batting .386 and Diedrick was second with an average of .382, while Parrish was hurt for most of the season.
The Whippets junior class will be represented by: Dylan Pease, Chris Dedrick, Dan Harnack, Alex Fero, Jordan Curtis, Hunter Martin, Aiden Murray, and Sam Meyers. Sophomores Cooper Pease, Jaden Salmieri, Gehrig Monday, Sam Wilson and Chris Flores will fill out the rest of the roster.
Dylan Pease was first team all-conference a season ago, while Fero was a second team all-conference. Sophomore Cooper Pease was an honorable mention all-conference as a freshman.
Softball in 2018
The Whippets softball team will lean on youth in 2018. The team will have mainly juniors and sophomores leading the attack as it looks to improve on their 5-18 record last season.
“This year we have a lot of sophomores and juniors coming back,” head coach Ron Sdano said. “We have our starting pitching back, starting catcher back, we had two weeks of really good practice and I think we have some pretty decent team speed. So I expect a lot of improvement this year.”
The Whippets have two seniors on this year’s squad including first baseman Jessica Rocha and utility player Lorynn Hollingshead. They will have five juniors in Jocelin Beecroft, Kailey Ruhl, Catherine Yang, Sara Johnson and Autumn Lesar.
The Whippets will also have five sophomores in Jacee Johnson, Morgan Gransee, Zoe Porter, Alyssa Schumacher and Bryce Hibbs. The team will also have two sophomores in Elizabeth Katzman and Kiyla Kopecky.
Schmacher led the team in hitting a season ago with 28 hits, 41 total bases, 20 runs batted in, scored 16 runs and led the team in putouts with 26. Jacee Johnson had 18 hits and eight runs batted in as two led the Whippets attack a year ago and will look to lead it again.
For more on the Whippets baseball and softball teams, pick up a March 29 edition of the Whitewater Register.
