Team of The Week: Soda Springs Softball

It has been a common theme throughout the early part of the spring sports season that teams have struggled to get quality practices in due to the weather.  It has been no different for the Lady Cardinals this softball season.  However on Wednesday evening when I had a chance to stop by their practice they were excited to get their first moments outside on real grass.  Although their own practice field was still under snow, the recent warm temperatures had cleared enough of the ground at the middle school for the coaches to hit some balls to the girls.  As the players spent some time warming up playing catch I took the opportunity to speak with coaches Breanne Evans and Sierra Woods.  Coach Evans is in her third year of coaching the Cardinals and her second year as head coach.  Coach Evans is excited about the growth she has seen in the girls this season compared to the two previous seasons. “The first season was a little rough.  We were still young.  Last year was definitely better but the snow really impacted us.  We didn’t get on our field until the last week of the season.”  This season Coach Evans has a good mix of players as there are four returning seniors to go with five juniors.  In the underclassmen they only have two sophomores but gained five total freshmen to build with and develop.  

To go along with her strong returning group I asked coach Evans what she has seen as her team’s strengths as well as some areas where there needs to be some improvement.  “Our bats have come alive really early, which we haven’t seen in the past.  Our base running has improved which has been fun to watch as well.”  Coach Evans went on to say that defensively they are really versatile.  The coaches feel they can move the girls to any position on the field with the confidence that they will perform well.  Coach Sierra Woods also pointed to a change in the culture of the team, “Their attitude has shifted this year. We’re able to battle back in games and I think the girls realize that.”  Coach Evans thought one area where some improvement needs to be made is in the pitching.  She feels they have very capable pitchers but would like a little more depth at the position as well as experience since some of the pitchers are still very young.  

I was also able to speak to a couple of the players and asked them what they enjoyed about playing softball this year.  Abby Goodin answered, “I think the team aspect is a lot of fun and the dugout is loud.”  When asked about the coaching staff Kinley Ozburn responded, “I think the most I’ve ever learned from a coach is from these guys.  They talk to us about college, different jobs, being mothers just all sorts of stuff.  They have advice for us in anything that we need.”

The general feel of the team is one of excitement and high expectations.  Coach Evans wrapped it up this way, “It’s a super fun group of girls.  They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with and I think we’re going to do really well this year.”

Following our interview the Lady Cardinals entered their busiest stretch of the season as they played seven games in a ten day period.  They started that stretch with a loss at American Falls.  The 13-14 loss was their third one run loss of the year.  With so many close games it was just a matter of time until the Cardinals would break through and get their first win of the season.  That is exactly what they did the following day when they traveled to Ririe.  That game looked as though it would be similar to many of the other games as the scoring would go back and forth from inning to inning.  Entering the top of the final inning Soda would trail 9-8.  The Cardinals would need to score a couple of runs and hold on defense to get the win.  They would go on to score six runs then hold Rire scoreless in the bottom of the inning to grab the win 14-9.

The Cardinals would follow up their first win of the season with a dominating performance at West Side beating the Pirates 20-5.  From there the Lady Cardinals would make the long journey to take part in the Glenns Ferry tournament. There they would face four very good teams.  On day one they would start with West Jefferson.  The game would stay close for the first three innings before the Panthers would pull away for an 11-1 win over the Cardinals.  Next they would take on Glenns Ferry and once again early in the game it would be tight as things got knotted up at two runs a piece.  Unfortunately, the Pilots would go on a 7-1 run to take down the Cardinals 9-3.  As Saturday got started the Cardinals were determined to be the aggressors and get a win.  That is exactly what they did as they would grab the early lead over Grangeville.  The Bulldogs would make a run in the middle of the game and cut the deficit to just two runs but in the end the Cardinals would pull away and win this one 14-8.  In their final game they would take on Wilder.  The Lady Cardinals would stay hot in this game as they would dominate Wilder and run away with this one winning 16-1.  Aspen Davis had a great tournament as she would get an over the fence home run while Liz Hunsaker would shine on defense playing first base. 

 The Cardinals had a less busy week this week but faced a couple of really tough opponents.  Their home opener took place on Tuesday against Snake River and they traveled to number one ranked Malad on Wednesday.  Look for a recap on these games in next week’s edition.