The Hampton-Dumont-CAL softball team has begun its season 1-0 after defeating AGWSR 9-5 Tuesday.
Several starters are back from last year’s team that went 6-17, but Head Coach Kelsey Enslin-Vogel says many are learning new positions.
“We have a lot of new kids in new spots,” Enslin-Vogel says. “Our outfield is all juniors this year. So we had Maren move, we moved her from right to left field, and then Addie’s in center. So that was a consistent spot. And we had Payton Hinders, which was new in the outfield for us in right field. And then our infield is kind of all mixed around besides Aliyah. She’s behind the plate. We had Maddie starting and she did some for us last year. And then our infield, we moved Megan Severs to third base. Bridget’s at short, played Keely at second, and then we have an eighth grader Aubree McWilliams at first. And then we actually had Sylvie Morton DH. So we have a lot of new faces and like we said to the girls, I’m sure our lineup will change throughout the year.”
After having exclusively eighth graders on the mound last season, Maddie Pralle and Kendall Eilderts are back for their freshman seasons, having combined for a serviceable 4.49 ERA last year.
“It’ll be the same two pitchers that are taking the load for us this year as freshmen. They both played for Heat in the offseason, so they’ve had a lot of pitching experience, and they’ve worked really hard to improve and gain some speed, gain more control. So you can see how much they’ve matured in the last year, just going from an eighth grader where it’s sometimes that deer in headlights look where they walk out onto the varsity field. I could tell Maddie had more command and had a lot more confidence. She actually hit in the leadoff spot for us too. I think she ended the night with six strikeouts. So I’m really excited just to watch them grow and just take more command and leadership of the team as we go through the season.”
They’ll return to action Tuesday, May 26 at North Butler.
