Benny Westcott
Sweet Home softball’s return to the diamond has been all smiles so far.
“The girls are great. They come to practice every day. They have a smile on,” said Head Coach Karyn Hartsook.
“They are so happy to have something to look forward to. A player told me that the other day, that they love coming to practice and it’s something to look forward to. That melted my heart and really made me happy.”
Hartsook said she is trying to help the girls return to some form of normalcy.
“My goal for the girls is to get them back to playing the game and being involved in something in a team aspect with some sort of normal routine,” she said.
Still, this season won’t be business as usual, thanks to the shortened season, less practice time and other factors.
The Huskies’ first practice was on April 5, and their first game was just a week later, on Monday, April 12, when they hosted Cascade.
Hartsook said the team usually has two weeks to prepare, but this time they had only five days.
In addition, some athletes had their preseason cut short because they were participating in volleyball or soccer, typical fall sports that this year overlap with the “spring” sports season.
“They’ve been trying to come to softball in between,” said Hartsook. “But we’ve respected the other sports and let them finish that season out with their current teams.”
The last time the Huskies competed was in the spring of 2019, when they went 19-8 overall with a league record of 14-4.
This year’s numbers are down a bit, but Sweet Home will still field a varsity and junior varsity team, as is normal, said Hartsook.
Despite the smaller-than-usual team, Hartsook said “we have kids that are dedicated, and are coming to practice, working hard and trying to get better, with great attitudes.”
“I feel like we have solid leadership,” she said. “Our juniors and seniors have competed at a high level in softball and other sports. They lead by example in a positive manner to get other kids motivated. They get in and get their work done, and they know what they need to do to win.”
“I think our two seniors, Bailee Hartsook and Savannah Hutchins, are going to be very strong, as they have been in the past for us,” the coach said. “In a normal life, they would have been four-year starters for the program.”
Both Hartsook and Hutchins recently wrapped up their volleyball seasons, helping the Huskies win the state championship.
“I feel like they’ll come back into softball strong,” Karyn Hartsook said. “They’re already in shape, so we’ll just get them dialed into softball really quick. They’re both athletic, so that will be helpful for us.”
Hutchins pitches and plays centerfield, and Hartsook plays shortstop.
The Huskies will also return some key juniors.
“We have three juniors that are also going to be very instrumental in our success this year,” said Hartsook.
Maddie Harris will pitch and play centerfield, Chloe Fairchild will be the main catcher for the Huskies, and Mykal Johnston will play third base.
In addition to the returning talent, Hartsook is also pleased to see a lot of young players joining the program.
“We have a large group of freshmen coming in that are playing, which is super exciting,” said Hartsook. “Some of them have never played before. For others, it’s been a while. So we’re working to get that group fundamentally strong.”
Rounding out the varsity roster for Sweet Home will be Brookelynn Burke, Adisen Graber, Mikayla Guthrie, Maddie Harris, Kaylea Layman, Nora Pettner and Kelsie Rush.
On the junior varsity roster are freshmen Madison Duncan, Cadence Makinson, Abigail Olsen, Emily Rasmussen, Natalie Summers, Hannah Ward, Riley Watkins and Kaylene Zajic.
So far in the early season, the Huskies’ training has focused on a wide range of skills.
“We’re hitting and pitching and playing catch and defense. Our practices consist of everything every day,” said Hartsook.
“The girls have been working out since we’ve been able to start working out with them due to changes in COVID metrics,” she said. “They’ve been working on hitting and pitching.”
The unusual format for this year’s season has actually been beneficial for the Husky softball squad in at least one way: The girls have been able to get outside with the season starting later in the spring than usual.
“Being able to be outside right away is a blessing,” said Hartsook. “In the history that I’ve been at the high school, we’ve never been able to start our season outside. But this year, our tryouts, practices, everything’s been outside.”
And while it’s been nice to have practices outside, Hartsook said she is looking forward to the actual games even more.
“I love Game Day in general,” she said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to let the girls play. To me, any time we get to actually compete and put that practice time to the test, is such a great feeling.”