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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
During Jessica
Glenn’s All-America and record-setting freshman season in 2008,
whenever she got on base, she could count on from time to time
somebody hitting home run to drive her home.
As fifth-year
Hutchinson Community College head softball coach Jaime Rose looks at
her 2009 team, a lot of that power has moved on. In fact, the 2009
HCC softball team lost 100 percent of its home runs and 71 percent
of the runs driven in from last season.
“We don’t have the
home run power we had last year,” said Rose as the Lady Dragons get
set to open the 2009 season on Wednesday at Northern
Oklahoma-Tonkawa. “Last year, Nos. 1 through 7 could hit a home run
at any time. That won’t be this year.”
Expect this edition
of the HCC softball team to play more ‘small ball’ to produce a good
portion of its offense. Rose has a good nucleus of returning players
to do just that.
HCC returns three
starting position players, a starting designated player and two
pitchers from last season’s 40-19 team that placed fifth in Region
VI. The 2008 Lady Dragons produced only the second 40-win season in
program history.
“We are going to
have to play small ball, play the short game very efficiently to
produce a few more runs,” Rose said. “Every one of our kids is going
to have to contribute. They will all start at some point this
season. For us to compete, we will have to stay healthy.”
Last season the Lady
Dragons hit .354 as a team and averaged 7.3 runs per game. In
conference play, the Lady Dragons hit .369 and averaged 8.5 runs in
a third-place league finish.
Glenn (5-foot-7,
So., CF, Overland Park) was the catalyst of that offense.
HCC’s leadoff hitter
and starting centerfielder set team single-season records for
batting average (.453), at-bats (212), hits (96), runs scored (56),
singles (77), total bases (119) and was second in on-base percentage
(.478). She earned third-team NJCAA All-America honors for that
performance.
This season, big
things are once again expected from Glenn, who is a second-team
preseason All-American.
“We are looking for
big things out of her,” Rose said. “Jess is going to anchor our
outfield. We are going to continue to look at her to continue to do
the job at the plate.”
Shift to ‘small
ball’
While the 2009 Lady
Dragons adjust to ‘small ball,’ it won’t be a major a fundamental
change for the returning players. As powerful as the 2008 Lady
Dragons were, they were also adept at moving runners along. The 2008
Lady Dragons had 32 sacrifice bunts, by far the most in the Rose era
at HCC.
Third-baseman Dusty
Smith had the second-most sacrifices in single-season history last
season with 13. She also set a single-season record getting hit with
25 pitches. Smith (5-1, So., 3B, Bridge Creek, Okla.) hit .287 with
34 RBIs and had a .412 on-base percentage.
Sophomore Kelli
Dennis returns as the starting shortstop. She missed the final 13
games of the season with an injury. Dennis (5-5, So. Newcastle,
Okla.), hit .253 last season with 19 RBIs.
“We’ve never been
worried about Dusty defensively,” Rose said. “She hit her in the
two-hole last year to move Jessica all around. We like Dusty in the
two hole, but we may move her to the three spot in hopes of getting
more production.”
“Kelli’s been
fabulous on the defensive end like she was last year. The big
difference with Kelli is we need her to produce at the plate. She
had a terrific fall and has been working very hard to be a better
hitter. She will be on the top part of our lineup.”
Sophomore Ashley
Cushinberry (5-3, So. Topeka) was the starting designated player
last season. This season she is slated to play right field and bat
in the No. 2 spot in the order. One of the fastest players in
program history, Cushinberry hit .425 with just one extra base hit
and four RBIs.
In the circle
The 2009 Lady
Dragons will have four pitchers on staff.
Returning will be
left-hander Courtney Johnson (5-4, So. Baldwin City, Kan.) and
right-hander Kelli Walker (5-10, So. Keller, Texas). Danielle
Driscoll (5-8 Fr. Moore, Okla.) and Haley Fowler (5-2, Fr. Wichita)
are newcomers to the staff.
“With all of our
pitchers, it’s going to be a combo deal,” Rose said. “It’s what we
did last year. We will have to mix and match.”
Johnson made 23
appearances (12 starts) last season in going 10-5 with a 3.53 ERA.
On 87 1-3 innings pitched, Johnson allowed 99 hits, 44 earned runs
and 29 walks, while striking out 48. Opposing hitters hit .278 off
of Johnson last season.
Walker made 19
appearances (11 starts) and finished with an 8-2 record and a
team-low 2.79 ERA. Opposing hitters hit .234 off of walker. In 65
1-3 innings, Walker allowed 63 hits, 26 earned runs and 37 walks
while striking out 49.
“Courtney Johnson is
the center of our pitching staff,” Rose said. “Last year she was in
primarily a relief role. She will need to give us solid innings from
the beginning. Kelli also got quite a few innings last season.”
Defense will be
strength
Rose is high on her
team’s defense this season, especially up the middle.
With Glenn returning
to centerfield and Dennis taking care of things at short, the rest
of the middle defense will have a different look.
Sophomore Brianna
Elman (5-4, 2B, Wichita) will move from left field to second base
and freshman Brooke Hollis (5-5, C Dwight, Kan.) will be HCC’s
starting catcher.
Elman played in 32
games last season, but was primarily a defensive player. Elman had
just 35 at-bats in her freshman season and hit .229.
“We hated to take
her out of the outfield with her range and great arm, but we were
struggling at second base,” Rose said. “She played shortstop in high
school and won the spot at second for us. She has great hands, good
range. Her and Kelli have only been playing up the middle for two
weeks, but it looks like they’ve played together for a year.”
Smith will return at
third base, while Johnson and freshman Shonda Glover will platoon at
first base.
In the outfield,
Cushinberry takes over in right field, while freshman Megan Meigs
(5-2, Fr., Decatur, Ark.) takes over in left field.
“Over the last
month, the freshman have been progressing well,” Rose said. “I’ve
liked how they have progressed, but now it’s time to find out. The
first couple of weeks, we may take our hits.
“All of the
returners had significant time last year. They will lead our team
with a drive to win. Defensively I’m comfortable with us, but
offensively, we won’t be the team that we were last year.”
New league,
regional format
Both the Jayhawk
Conference and Region VI saw dramatic shifts during the off-season.
No longer will there be a Jayhawk West and Jayhawk East. There will
only be five Region VI Division I teams, while the remainder of the
programs will compete at the Division II level.
That means that
Kansas will send two representatives to the NJCAA Division II
national tournament, which will be May 14-16 in Normal, Ill.
There will be 16
Division II teams in Region VI this season. There will be no more
unbalanced scheduling for regional games, meaning every team must
play each of the other 15 region teams in the regular season, which
will account for 30 games.
“With the
realignment, it’s brought meaning to the conference season,” Rose
said.
Once the postseason
begins, the top eight teams will play host to best-of-three
first-round series with the bottom eight teams in the region. Once
those eight winners are determined, they will be broken down into
two four-team double-elimination brackets, with the two bracket
winners advancing to the national tournament.
After opening the
season on Wednesday, the Lady Dragons will play their home opener on
March 5 when they play host to the McPherson College Junior Varsity. |
