AREA DIAMONDS READY TO SPARKLE; HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS PREPARE TO LAUNCH 2001 SEASON THIS WEEK

Local high school softball teams will look to continue their recent string of impressive seasons this fall.

Last year was a particularly strong one for area squads as four of the seven won district championships, led by Kelly, which remarkably captured its 15th consecutive district title and finished third in the Class 2A state tournament.

Delta, in its inaugural season of fall softball, backed up its first district crown with a fourth-place finish in the Class 1A state tourney.

Other defending district champions are Cape Girardeau Central in Class 4A and Perryville in Class 3A. Perryville will be shooting for its fourth straight district title.

Notre Dame is also coming off a strong season as the Lady Bulldogs finished second in the 2A district behind Kelly, perennially strong Jackson is looking to bounce back from a sub-par year and a young St. Vincent program will look to continue making strides.

Following is a look at the local softball teams as the season gets under way in the next several days.

Cape Central

The Lady Tigers won the program's first district title last year and, despite losing seven key seniors, coach Amy Blattel is counting on another strong season.

"We're relatively young, but our kids play a lot of softball over the summer and they've grown a lot," said Blattel, whose squad went 21-7 in 2000. "I think we can have another good year. Our goal is to win district again. I believe we have the ability to do that, but it's going to take a lot of hard work."

Central returns just three seniors:Holly Schnurbusch (pitcher), Trisha Klipfel (third base) and Ashley Foutch (outfield), who has recovered from a hand injury that forced her to miss all but the first three games of last season.

"We always count on the seniors a lot," Blattel said. "They have to lead by example."

Other returning starters are junior Alex Wieser (outfield) and sophomore Megan McDonald (first base).

Blattel will be counting on several other players, most of them up off last year's JV, including juniors Sammantha Elliott, Laura Beard and Heather Hobbs; and sophomores Jessi Snell, Blaire Holmes and Megan Kistner.

Schnurbusch was one of Central's top two pitchers last year and should head up this season's mound staff. Other hurlers figure to be McDonald, Beard and Kistner.

Central opens the season Monday at home against Perryville.

Notre Dame

The Lady Bulldogs went 17-9 last season and, with virtually their entire starting lineup returning, coach Chris Janet is looking for big things.

"We're excited. We're optimistic that we're going to have a good year," Janet said. "We've got a lot of experience coming back and the girls all played a lot of ball over the summer. We're looking for good things."

Ten returning players all saw starting action for Notre Dame last year, including senior pitcher/first baseman Mika Williamson, who earned all-state honors. Williamson was the Lady Bulldogs' No. 1 hurler in 2000.

Senior Ramona Blankenship is another returning pitcher while others back who started are seniors Tracie Kluesner (shortstop) and Katlyn Kelly (second base); juniors Stacy Schwartz (third base), Sarah Gosche (outfield), Sara Berkbigler (outfield) and Ashley Reinagel (outfield); and sophomores Laura Weissmueller (catcher) and Stacy Seyer (outfield).

Janet will also be counting on several other players, including sophomore pitcher Lindsay Reinagel.

"With Mika, Romona and Lindsay, I think our pitching will be steady," said Janet.

Also competing for playing time are juniors Lori Obermann and Ashley Siebert; sophomore Sarah Michel; and freshmen Whitney Ostendorf and Alana Weissmueller.

Notre Dame begins the season Tuesday when St. Vincent visits.

Jackson

The Lady Indians have a new head coach as Julie Rushing takes over for longtime boss Becky Riney, who stepped down to spend more time with her family.

Rushing, who played for Riney and also was her assistant the past two years, said she has had a good mentor to learn under.

"It was neat having her as a coach, then coaching with her and now trying to fill her shoes," said Rushing. "It will be a tough job because coach Riney did so much for the program. But I'm excited."

Jackson won back-to-back district and conference championships before falling to a 12-16 record last year.

"Based on how the girls did this summer, we should be pretty good," Rushing said. "But it's hard to predict how good the other teams will be."

The Lady Indians return quite a bit of experience, with as many as eight players seeing at least some starting action last year.

Among the returning regulars are seniors Chantel Childers (third base), Ashley Myer (third base), Sam Thurman (second base), Melissa Sander (catcher), Jeanna Bolen (outfield) and Dana Wright (utility).

Senior Ashley Snell and junior Heather Tuschoff were two of the squad's primary pitchers last season.

Jackson's final senior, Amanda King, is on the team for the first time and should contribute.

Rushing said she will also be counting on the likes of juniors Megan Green, Amy Illers and Natalie Profilet; and sophomores Kelly Riggs and Jenny Schlick. Hobeck should be in the pitching mix.

The Lady Indians open Wednesday at St. Louis Notre Dame.

Kelly

The Lady Hawks have put together quite a string of successful seasons and coach Melanie Heuring fully expects that trend to continue.

"I feel we'll be really strong," said Heuring. "Our three seniors have been to state twice (Kelly finished third each of the past two years) and our juniors and sophomores haven't known anything but going to state. That experience should help us."

Kelly did graduate four standout seniors off last year's 21-3 team, but the Lady Hawks return plenty of talent despite having a fairly young squad.

The Lady Hawks' pitching should be in good shape with seniors Bridgett Riley and Natalie Lewer, who each went 7-0 last year, and junior Dana Essner.

Riley, who earned all-state honors at first base last year as she batted nearly .390, and Lewer (outfield) are among returning regulars, as are senior Alana Burford (second base), junior Allison Johnson (catcher) and sophomore Ashley Kern (outfield).

Heuring will also be counting on the likes of juniors Sara Essner, Cara Scherer, Andrea Kluesner and Christy Kluesner, along with sophomore Monica Senciboy.

Kelly's players received plenty of valuable experience this summer as eight of the 11 varsity members competed in the 16-under Babe Ruth World Series.

The Lady Hawks play their first game Aug. 30 at Cape Central.

Perryville

Coach Lynn O'Neal figures the Lady Pirates, 18-10 last year, will make a strong run at a fourth straight district title as they return five starters who all earned some type of all-Jefferson County Conference recognition.

"We've done pretty well the past few years and I think it's very feasible for us to have another solid season," said O'Neal. "The girls' goal is to win our fourth district title in a row and to win conference for the second year in a row."

Returning regulars for the Lady Pirates are seniors Amy Steffens (first base), Julia Heuring (second base), Amanda Nuyt (third base) and Kate Bohnert (outfield), along with junior Jenna Schuessler (shortstop). Nuyt is entering her fourth season as a starter.

The Lady Pirates' pitching staff, which is relatively unproven, will consist of junior Amanda Roth, junior Sara Lappe and sophomore Kate Lowery. Roth won five games last year.

"Our pitching is unproven, but I have confidence in the girls," O'Neal said.

Among other players O'Neal will be counting on are senior Amanda Mahnken; juniors Jennifer Hoehn, Amber Leible, Renee Lottes, Steph Hoehn and Emily Tiehes; and sophomore Kelly Kassell.

Perryville opens Monday at Cape Central.

St. Vincent

The Squaws have made steady progress in their three previous seasons of fall softball and coach John Lambert is looking for that to continue. St. Vincent's 13-13 record last year was the best in the program's fall history.

"I'm real excited about the progress we've made over the last three years," Lambert said. "As a coach you always want to sneak up on everybody, but the kids have the potential of having the best season we've ever had this year."

St. Vincent returns six senior starters -- and eight regulars in all -- including all-state shortstop Jean Brown, who batted .446 with seven home runs and 42 runs batted in as a junior. Lambert said that Brown is a potential Division I college prospect.

Joining Brown in earning all-district honors last year were senior Kara Carroll (third base) and Kindle Ernst (second base), along with junior Caitlin Hoeh (outfield), who batted .369 as a sophomore.

Other senior starters back from last season are Nicole Hadler (catcher) and pitchers Julie Hager and Jessica Kirn.

"Julie had a good summer and I'm expecting good things out of her," Lambert said. "Our pitching is improved."

Sophomore Amanda Carron (designated hitter) earned all-conference honors as a freshman, batting .409. Another sophomore, Rachel Hadler, saw varsity playing time as a freshman while freshman Liz Kasten is being counted on to fill a starting role.

The team's final senior is Marcy Pingel.

St. Vincent plays its first game Tuesday at Notre Dame.

Delta

The Lady Bobcats had quite an initial campaign of fall softball last year. After taking their lumps during the regular season while primarily facing larger schools, Delta turned it on in the postseason to reach the 1A Final Four despite having an overall record of just 8-15.

While the Lady Bobcats have a new coach in Laura Brown -- she takes over for Anne Trieb, who left the school system -- expectations for another big season remain as Delta graduated just two players off last year's squad.

"We play some really tough teams, but we expect to have a good year," said Brown, a Kelly High School graduate who is in her first year of coaching. "Our goal is to get back to state. I think it's actually expected by the girls."

Delta, which is still an extremely young team with just one senior, returns its top pitcher and hitter from last year in junior Rebecca Cook, who batted close to .365.

Other returning regulars for the Lady Bobcats are senior Jessica Springer (outfield); juniors Rebecca Below (outfield), Alexis Nussbaum (outfield) and Andrea Dohogne (second base); and sophomores Tiffany Johnson (catcher), Ashley Martin (infield) and April Helderman (outfield). Martin also did some pitching a year ago.

Brown is also high on five freshmen who should contend for starting berths: Sarah Cook, Ashley Elliott, Jenny Dannenmueller, Krystal Burnett and Jessica Livingston.

Delta opens Friday at Egyptian, Ill.