SOFTBALL: Lady Apaches show signs of improvement
By John Baracani
In their first season under new coach Cory Tomasson, the Lady Apaches have shown signs of promise and also, at times, some signs of a team that has no college level playing experience.
With a 1-6 conference record and a 4-12 record overall, the team’s main weak point has been its fielding along with its lack of experience, according to Tomasson.
"We’re making a lot of defensive errors that are costing us a lot of runs," said Tomasson. "We’re having to play catch-up a little. More games will help decrease those."
On Tuesday, April 18 against Carl Sandburg, Tomasson’s club took a pair of contests, winning 9-8 and 9-3, respectively, doubling their previous win total.
"Everything was there," said Tomasson. "We had strong hitting, the pitchers were strong."
IVCC was led by the batters at the top of the order, leadoff hitter Christina Youngsma and number two hitter Jen Dischler, who combined to go 10-15 in the doubleheader.
"We found a good combination there," said Tomasson.
After their originally scheduled game was washed out by rain on April 20, the Lady Apaches battled Kishwaukee the following day. Only nine players, six of them regular starters, were available for the make up game, the others having prior commitments, forcing the available players to play positions they normally wouldn’t have.
The shorthanded Lady Apaches were outplayed in the first game, suffering a 9-1 setback while committing 6 errors. Game two however, offered a bit more excitement.
With IVCC already coming back from a big deficit and just trailing 8-7, an interference call was made at home plate, costing Tomasson’s team what would have been their eighth and game-tying run which also would have also left runners on second and third base with one out.
The team came up just short, losing by that same margin, in another sloppily played defensive effort in which they made 7 more errors. The offense, on the other hand, shined, out-hitting the visitors by three.
"Our hitting is on," said Tomasson. "We are out-hitting every team we play. I’ll put our bats up against any team." Sometimes we just give teams five or six outs in an inning and that leads to throwing a lot of pitches."
At press time, IVCC was batting at a .300 clip, led by shortstop Casey Novotney’s .400 batting average.
Pitching has also been consistent, with the talent of Tahnee Cochran and Jaime Schwarz, but the defense hasn’t done them many favors.
"Sometimes we just give teams five or six outs in an inning and that leads to throwing a lot of pitches," said Tomasson.
Despite the struggles of this season, Tomasson believes his team is beginning to come together and he is confident of what next year will bring.
"We will be in contention for the conference title," he said. "We are looking at new recruits to fill some spots and work things out."
After playing two more games earlier this week against conference foe Sauk Valley, the Lady Apaches begin Regional play on Saturday.