Western softball preview

By PEDRO VELAZCO
Tribune sportswriter

March 26, 2008 10:32 pm

— The Panthers hope to build on last season’s 15-12 campaign with a strong core of returning starters but must make inroads in an area filled with good teams in order to show improvement.
“We’re returning eight starters from last year,” third-year Western coach Jim Clouse said. “Returning eight players and not losing any of our pitching, we’re optimistic, but this area is so tough. You’ve got Eastern and Cass both rated in the top five in [Class] 2A, and Northwestern really came on at the end of last season, and Kokomo’s always tough. It’s never easy in this area now matter what you’ve got coming back, but we look to be competitive night in and night out.”
The Panthers expect to be strong when the other team is at the plate.
“Our strength should be defense, Clouse said. “We return our entire infield. I think defensively we should be very solid, and I think our pitching is solid. We’ve got more pitching this year than I’ve had since I’ve been here. As long as they stay consistent and don’t walk a lot of batters, we should be in every game.
Junior Kristen Larrick is at first, senior Brittani Snyder plays second, junior Brooke Jackson shortstop and senior Alisha Davenport third. Sophomore Maeghan Grove or junior Casey Hattabaugh will handle the catching duties, with freshman Aly Davenport providing another option.
Senior Morgan Oilar will get the majority of the innings in the pitching circle. She had an ERA of 2.11 last season, fanning 44 batters. Other pitching options include sophomore Brooke Pingleton, senior Lindsey Clouse, sophomore Jenna Dillman and freshman Katie Daine.
In the outfield, Clouse is at center and junior A.J. Finch will play right or left. Junior Ashley Rice or freshman Samantha Hemming will man the remaining outfield spot.
Larrick led Western last season with a .410 batting average, 11 doubles and 20 runs batted in. Snyder hit .384 with seven doubles, and Oilar hit .315.
Snyder will lead off. Larrick, Lindsey Clouse (seven doubles), Davenport (10 doubles, two homers) and Jackson (seven doubles) are expected to drive in runs. Finch, who had 10 doubles, will again be expected to move runners.
“We have never been a great hitting team,” Jim Clouse said. “In the last two years our inability to hit has kept us from having really good seasons. We’ve worked hard on our hitting this year to improve that. We’ve got to do a better job of scoring runs when they’re available.”
The Panther coach said it would be difficult to contend in the MIC — noting the strong squads at Eastern, Cass, Northwestern, Taylor and Peru — but doing well in the league and in postseason are the goals. In particular, the four seniors — four-year contributors Lindsey Clouse, Oilar, Davenport and Snyder — are hungry.
“It’s their last chance to win a sectional and they really want to do that,” Jim Clouse said. “The conference and the sectional are our goals.”