The 2015 St. Hubert softball team hopes this season brings with it a return to championship form. ED MORRONE / TIMES PHOTO
A humbling wake-up call.
That’s how you could describe the 2014 St. Hubert softball season. After appearing in the championship game the previous seven seasons — winning four league titles in the process — the Bambies had a sobering first-round postseason exit at the hands of eventual runner-up Lansdale Catholic.
The Bambies were young, with just two seniors on the roster, and the youth showed, as the team was beset by inconsistent hitting and defense. They’re still young this year with just three seniors on the roster; however, the main difference is the experience the team gained a year ago, so much so that the Bambies believe they are poised to be in the thick of things come playoff time.
“I sense some big-time motivation,” head coach Dave Schafer said during Monday’s practice. “What’s helping is the alumni in their ears, telling them they have to get the program back to where it should be. Our main theme this season is character, and we’re better through four games this year than we were last year. Last year, we got down if we lost a game, and things just got to us. Now we’re using the philosophy of, ‘Treat every day like you may never stop on the field again,’ and they’re running with that. I think if this group can win a playoff game and find itself in the second round, that we can make something happen.”
Schafer called reigning champion Archbishop Ryan as “the team to beat,” and said Cardinal O’Hara, Little Flower, Conwell-Egan and Lansdale Catholic all have a shot to be strong squads this season. As usual, the league should be very competitive, but where do the Bambies fit into that landscape?
The team loves its left side of the infield, which features senior co-captains and two of the Bambies’ best players in shortstop Jazmin Ortiz and third baseman Nicole Vandermay. Both are four-year players under Schafer, and Ortiz has been a starter from day one. The Bambies have one other senior — pitcher Dana Dougherty — who has battled injuries and is coming off two surgeries, but Schafer is high on her and what she brings to the table if she stays healthy.
The team is junior-heavy, with first baseman Liz Schule, second baseman Danielle Franks, rightfielder Julia Vizza, leftfielder Brittany Klesse and pitchers Melissa Hess and Jessica Baker, most of whom come in with varsity experience under their belts. Sophomores Amanda Iriana (center field), Victoria Cross and Emily Shappell (catchers) and Kate Jaworski and Emma Clark round out the rotation.
“Right now, our defense is solid and I’m happy about that,” Schafer said. “Our pitching is not a finished product but it’s where we want it to be at this point and has improved from one game to the next. Hitting is the slowest to get started, but kids like Jazz and Nicole have picked up from where they left off, so really all we need is more consistency from top to bottom. We’re stressing the little things every day, and if we do them right, we think we’ll be fine.”
One uncontrollable factor that has put the Bambies a bit behind the eight-ball is the weather. Stubborn winter temperature is something every team has to deal with this time of year, but St. Hubert has felt it more than others. Games against Archbishop Wood, Bishop McDevitt and Little Flower have already had to be rescheduled, and while the rest of the league has three or four games under its belts, the Bambies have played just one, a 5–1 league-opening triumph over Archbishop Carroll in which Ortiz had a big game offensively and Hess struck out 12 on the mound.
The team did get to travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a tournament, going 2–1 against out-of-state teams and finally getting a chance to get consistent reps in. Now the hopes are that the spring weather is here to stay, even if it does mean the Bambies will have to play a game almost every day to catch up, “a Major League Baseball-type schedule,” as Schafer put it.
“South Carolina was good for us because we got to learn things we didn’t already know about each other,” Ortiz said. “We learned that everyone has a purpose on this team and every single girl can contribute to the game’s outcome. I don’t really think this year is any different for any of us; all we want is to play as one family and not our individual selves. We can all perform, one through nine, and as senior captains we just have to keep them ready, positive, motivated and focused on what the main goal is.”
“I think there’s 100 percent more motivation with this year’s team,” Vandermay added. “We were freshmen on the team that last won the title and we played in the championship as sophomores, and we want to get back to winning, back to the title round. I think this team is willing to push harder to get further than we did last season. We’ve improved not only skill-wise, but mentally as well … everyone’s attitude is focused on the team first.”
Schafer has won four league titles since he took over the program in 2006, and the incentive to win number five has never been stronger. He likes his assembled group, especially his co-captains at the forefront.
“Jazmin and Nicole aren’t especially vocal, so when they speak, the other girls listen,” he said. “Jazmin has a softball mind, so she’s ahead of the game not only physically, but mentally as well. She’s our leadoff hitter and has the ability to carry us on her back and is as complete a player I’ve ever coached. And Nicole has some power and can drive the ball for distance out of the three-hole. They’re taking everybody under their wings and leading by example, because they’re not happy how last year ended.”
Sure enough, a motivated, battle-tested program with championship expectations can be bad news for the rest of the league But can the Bambies elevate the program back to the championship level it has been accustomed to for much of the last decade?
“Every time we step on the field, we have to give it our all,” Vandermay said. “We treat normal practice days like today as if it’s a championship environment. We’re usually a team that is mentioned to win the league, and in the last two years, we haven’t. That’s all the motivation we need right there. We want to make it back badly … being back at Arcadia University and playing for a championship, that’s all that I want.” ••
Follow Ed on Twitter @SpecialEd335
