Culver Softball Ready for Challenge
By Ken Peterson
CULVER -- The task that lies ahead for Culver Community softball coach Stephanie Smith is a large one.
Heading into her second season as Cavaliers� coach, she looks to improve on last year�s 5-19 record, which included a 2-12 mark in the Northern State Conference.
Smith lost pitcher Brandy Elliott, catcher Luella James and center fielder Mandy Howard to graduation.
Even with those losses, a solid group of underclassmen bolster the roster.
�We have a lot of sophomores,� Smith said. �We may have six or seven or sophomores on the field.�
Those Smith is counting on to make an impact include Brandy Trusty, Ashley Thomas, Desi Rhinehart, Leanna Packwood and senior Heather Reynolds.
Freshman Brittany Poisel is expected to challenge for the catcher�s spot.
�She�s fitting in well and she�s trying to work into the catcher�s position,� Smith said.
Other freshmen expected to make a contribution include Kelsey Schrimsher and Kim Snyder in the outfield along with Valerie Dauenhauer.
Smith�s biggest challenge is to get her team ready for its first regular season game that is still two weeks away.
�We have no J.V team and no summer program at this time,� the coach said. �Most of the girls that we get as freshmen have never played softball before. We have nothing (regarding a youth league program). They had softball years ago and they lost boys from baseball and they dropped softball.
�Then they got girls to play Little League to build up the Little League and now that we�ve got the Little League back up again and now that we�ve got a high school program, we�re trying to work back into summer softball.�
Smith said the Culver 14-and-under teams will play games with other communities after being rejected by a neighboring town.
The cancellation of softball at Bethany Christian and Argos gives Smith more time to teach her Cavaliers the fundamentals before the April 21 opener against Jimtown.
�Right now, we�re very young,� she said. �We�ve got a lot of young girls right now that are very excited about softball. They don�t have a lot of experience, but the sophomore class played last year and we�re pretty confident defensively. Our biggest challenge is going to be getting it done at the plate.�
And that could be a problem in the always formidable NSC.
�It�s one of the toughest conferences around,� Smith said. �We go conference right off the bat (with) Jimtown, Bremen, New Prairie and Knox are first four games. We�ll probably take a few knocks at the beginning, but hopefully we�ll get our bugs ironed out and go from there.�
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