The #2 (1A) Clarksville softball team is gearing up for the program’s seventh all-time state tournament appearance after defeating Riceville in Monday’s 1A Region 2 Final. It’ll be the sixth appearance since 2017, adding to a tradition of excellence.
Head Coach Katie Burman leans on a strong culture to help maintain the team’s identity. She says a moment after winning the 2020 1A championship helped set the table and create a motto for the current upperclassmen.
“Our motto this year is ‘Expect it,’ which I think has been kind of the motto the past couple years,” Burman says. “In 2020, when that team won state, if you watch the video, as soon as we won, it pans over to the audience, and Sydney Lovrein, Claire Lodge, Emmalee Manwarren and Jeni Johnson, they’re all sitting in the stands as sixth and seventh graders watching. So I think that moment right there started the ‘expect it,’ like when they got to high school, they’re going to expect to be in that same spot too, and now here they are, so that’s kind of a cool moment.”
Burman says making sure each team member recognizes their role, especially underclassmen who don’t see the field often, is crucial.
“We always write notes to them before the game, and I try and really make them personalized to each player and make sure they know that they’re important and what their job is tonight, and that we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that person, even if they didn’t step on the field. And then same thing in practice, some of them don’t really get to have the full practice. They’re putting balls in a machine instead since it’s the end of the season and JV is over. And they’re racing to be the first one to put the balls in. So I just think we have some really, really great underclassmen that are sacrificing their own practice time to make the older girls better, and I’m really grateful for them. And I think that they know how important they are.”
They’ll take on Newman Catholic in a 1A quarterfinal on Tuesday, July 22 at 7:00 p.m. Each of the team’s state tournament games will air on 99 The Wave.
Interview with Katie Burman and assistant coach Taylor Ahrenholz:
