AREA PREP SOFTBALL TO TAKE THE FIELD SOON

Last year was an especially strong one for area high school softball teams.

While Kelly had its usual standout season as the Lady Hawks won their 13th straight district title and advanced to the Class 2A state quarterfinals, Cape Girardeau Central, Jackson and Perryville also turned in banner campaigns.

Cape Central reached the 20-victory mark as did Jackson, which captured its district and advanced to the 4A quarterfinals. Perryville also captured its district before being eliminated in the first round of the 3A playoffs.

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

Cape Central

The Lady Tigers have a new coach, former Scott City High standout athlete Amy Blattel, who played softball at Southeast Missouri State University.

Blattel, who had been coaching at Delta, takes over the program for former longtime coach Don Lang.

"I'm very excited. I can't wait for the season to start," said Blattel of her new position. "We have very high hopes for the team. They were second in district the last two years and we're looking to step up.

"One of our top goals is to win district. We tell the kids that if they work hard, they can accomplish it."

Lang led Central to a 20-7 record last year and, although the Lady Tigers lost ace pitcher Kathy Michel, several key players return.

"They're working really hard and we have some good talent," Blattel said.

Among the Lady Tigers' top returnees are junior twins Amber Voerg and Ashlie Voerg, who are two of the area's top all-around athletes. Amber, who plays center field, and Ashlie, a shortstop, have both earned all-state honors.

Dionna Webb returns to the outfield while among other players Blattel will be counting on are seniors Crissi Matthews (outfield) and Eve Lungwitz (catcher); juniors Jessica McDonald (catcher), Katie Dougherty (first base) and Sarah Muench (infield); and sophomores Ashley Foutch (outfield) and Trisha Klipfel (infield).

Despite losing top hurler Michel, Blattel likes the look of her pitching staff, which will include juniors Cassie Childers, Casi Gross and Amy Girod. Childers and Gross both saw varsity action last year.

"I think our pitchers look pretty good," said Blattel.

Central opens the season Monday at home against Perryville.

Notre Dame

Despite losing his top two pitchers to graduation, coach Jerry Grim expects the Lady Bulldogs to be solid as they enter their second season of fall softball.

"I think we'll be a pretty decent team," he said. "We'll be young, but we have quite a few players back and I think we'll be competitive."

The Lady Bulldogs return several starters from last year's 11-11 squad, including senior infielder Laura Huber and senior outfielder Jessica Serratti. Another senior Grim will be counting on is infielder Bonnie Essner, who rejoins the squad after playing volleyball last year.

Other returning regulars are junior infielder Jennifer Stout and three sophomores: catcher Mika Williamson, infielder Traci Kluesner and infielder Katlyn Kelly.

Williamson, sophomore Amy Young and freshman Ramona Blankenship figure to do the bulk of the pitching.

"We lost our top two pitchers from last year and we've got a very young pitching staff," Grim said. "But I think they'll do all right. Mika did some pitching last year and the others also look pretty good."

Notre Dame begins the campaign Wednesday at home against Cape Central.

Jackson

What to do for an encore.

That's the situation Jackson faces as the Lady Indians had their best season in school history last year, going 21-7, winning their first fall district title and advancing to the state quarterfinals.

"We had a great season last year, the best we've ever had, and we've got a big act to follow," said coach Becky Riney.

But Jackson, despite losing most of its infield, should be plenty salty again. The Lady Indians return 11 letterwinners, including three all-staters and their top two pitchers.

"We lost some really good players but we have some good ones back," Riney said. "Having almost a whole new infield is a concern, but I feel like if we can get it all together, we should be real competitive all year long. We're capable of being a really powerful offensive team and we have speed."

The returning all-staters, all seniors, are Megan Kuntze, who played second base last year but will likely be moved to shortstop; catcher Amanda Bollinger, entering her third season as a starter; and pitcher Gretchen King.

Senior Beth Becker virtually matched King's pitching performance last season as she returns to form a strong one-two mound punch.

Two other seniors return with starting experience. Emily Sander played a variety of positions last season due to illness and injury but figures to be at third base this year. Cherish Tillman, who missed about half of last season with mononucleosis, is back in the outfield.

Riney will also be looking for contributions from several other players, including seniors Stacey DeClue (outfield) and Staci Illers (utility); and juniors Heidi Jansen (first base), Wendy Blankenship (second base), Lindsey Meyr (outfield), Lacie Hodo (outfield), Jessica Briscoe (outfield) and Erica Moyers (utility).

Jackson plays its first game Wednesday by hosting Notre Dame of St. Louis.

Kelly

Kelly's dynasty just keeps on going, with no apparent end in sight.

The Lady Hawks went 15-8 last season, when they pushed their string of consecutive district championships to 13. Kelly was eliminated in the state quarterfinals after winning the title in 1997 and finishing as runnerup in 1996.

Despite losing six seniors and having an extremely young squad, coach Rhonda Evans is looking for more good things.

"The goal we set every year the first day of practice is to win district and go to state," said Evans. "We're pretty young, but I think we can have another good season."

Kelly has only four seniors, but three of them started last year: second baseman Audrey Burford, third baseman Julie Milam and outfielder Jenny Riley. The other senior is outfielder LeShae Simmons.

Three juniors are returning regulars: pitcher Marissa Essner, catcher Nicole Kern and shortstop Megan Beggs. Another junior is outfielder Kari Lape.

Sophomores Evans is counting on are first baseman Bridgette Riley and outfielder Natalie Lewer while several freshmen could contend for varsity playing time, including Allison Johnson, Dana Essner, Sara Essner and Cara Scherer.

Evans expects to have a strong pitching staff, led by Marissa Essner, Bridgette Riley and Lewer.

"I think our pitching will be good, although it's young," Evans said. "If our pitching comes through, we should have another good year."

Kelly opens the campaign Thursday with a pair of games at St. Vincent, playing Crystal City and St. Vincent.

Perryville

The Lady Pirates, coming off their first-ever district title and a 19-10 record, graduated six seniors, including four who will be playing in college.

But Perryville's cupboard is far from empty. Coach Lynn O'Neal returns four starters, including a pair of all-staters.

"We had a very good season last year and we had some good kids to work with," said O'Neal. "We have some really fine players back but have some young kids filling in a lot of spots.

"I think we're going to be pretty good, but think it's going to be later in the year before we really jell together. I think we have the potential to maybe go as far as we did last year."

O'Neal will rely heavily on his two returning all-staters, who both hit better than .400 last year: senior shortstop Amanda Schumer, entering her fourth season as a starter; and junior center fielder Stacy Baer.

"They will definitely be the leaders of the team," O'Neal said.

Other returning starters are senior left fielder Rachel Verseman, entering her third season as a regular; and sophomore third baseman Amanda Nuyt.

Several other players will be battling for starting positions, including sophomore Brittany Weibrecht, who O'Neal says is the fastest player he's ever coached; seniors Samantha Rehkop, Erin Hecht, Heather Leible and Kristen Decker; juniors Jamie Martin, Stephanie Schumer and Amy Blyzes; and sophomore Julia Heuring.

Junior Megan Narrow, the main JV pitcher last year, will be the Lady Pirates' top hurler. Amanda Schumer will also likely see mound duty.

Perryville plays its first game Monday at Cape Central.

St. Vincent

John Lambert, a veteran player and coach, takes over the St. Vincent program after serving as an assistant the past three years.

The Squaws, who went 4-15 last year in their first season of fall ball, will field a young squad that has just one senior and numerous sophomores.

"We're a very young and inexperienced team," said Lambert. "But we've got a great group of girls and their enthusiasm is great.

"To be honest with you, it's a building year. We're looking for 2000. I told the girls we don't mind being beat if a better team beats us, we just don't want to lose any games."

Not only are the Squaws young, they have also been plagued by injury and illness to some key players. Junior Amanda Brown, who received all-conference mention last year, has mono and could possibly miss the entire season. A couple of other key performers have also been banged up but shouldn't miss all that much time.

Junior first baseman Monica Weith also earned all-conference mention last season while Amanda Richardet is another key returning junior. She played second base last year but has been moved to catcher.

The squad's lone senior is outfielder Sara Cissell, a first-year player.

Among other players Lambert will be counting on are sophomores Kindle Ernst (second base), Jean Brown (shortstop), Kara Carroll (third base), Nicole Hadler (outfield) and Julie Hager (outfield), along with freshmen Caitlin Hoeh (outfield).

The primary pitcher figures to be sophomore Jessica Kirn, with sophomore Stephanie Brown serving in relief. Other possible hurlers are Hager and junior Allison Moll.

St. Vincent opens the season Wednesday at home against St. Pius of Festus.