Kokomo softball preview

By PEDRO VELAZCO
Tribune sportswriter

March 26, 2008 10:26 pm

— The Wildkats lost eight seniors from a 15-8-1 squad, so the challenge for second-year coach Lisa Tate is to get the inexperienced Kats up to speed by the time the postseason begins.
In the meantime, the Kats have several proven players they can rely on, including the solid pitching duo of junior Elizabeth Wagner and sophomore Carly Painter, and four batters who hit .375 or better last season.
“Hopefully, it’ll be a good mix,” Tate said. “I think we’ve got some good leadership that will bring along the less-experienced players.”
Wagner led Howard County with a .500 batting average last season and hit 10 doubles. Painter hit .418, belted two homers and stole five bases. Senior Kate Toney hit .384 and classmate Brittany Camp hit .375, had nine doubles, three triples and five steals.
“One thing going for us this year is we’ve got a lot of speed,” Tate said. “The younger players that we added are very quick and the ones that are returning are pretty fast too. We’ve got … a few of the girls that are batting off the left side that can slap and drag. I think we’re going to be fast on the bases and fast in the outfield this.
“And of course, one of our strengths is our pitching. We’ve got two of the best around.”
Painter had an ERA of 1.69 last season and struck out 63 batters. Wagner had an ERA of 2.40, fanning 58.
Sharing catching duties are sophomore Kaile Branch and junior Natalie Granson. Branch will be at first base when not catching, or first will be manned by freshman Caroline Harbaugh. Camp is at second. Either pitcher will take shortstop when not on the mound. At third, junior Stacy Robbins will share time with Granson.
In the outfield, Toney patrols center. Candidates for the other spots are senior Jennifer Bailey, junior Virginia Mills and sophomore Christian Lawhead, who may also pop up in the infield.
“We have new people at first and third base so those are areas where we really have to work hard,” Tate said. “Those players will develop and I think they’ll be there for us at the end of the season, it’s just that we’ll make some errors at the beginning of the season.
“We’re going to find some leadership in our catchers too. It’s their first time as starting varsity players.”
Tate wants to see all three phases come together.
“For us to be successful, we have to have strong returning performances from our pitchers, we need to execute our bunts with our quick baserunning, and most important for us is to become stronger defensively,” she said.