Portagers still looking for first
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By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News Advocate
Sports Writer
Published: Wednesday, April 7, 2010
ONEKAMA — The work will have to be done on
the softball diamond, but Onekama has a goal to accomplish inside
its school gymnasium.
The Portagers want to add to the wall decor at Onekama High School
by raising a banner donning their name.
“As a team, Onekama, to the best of my knowledge and as far as I can
find it in the record book, hasn’t had a winning season,” said
Portagers coach Phil Sedelmaier. “We’ve been close the last couple
of years, but we would like to get over that hump, and get that
obstacle out of the way. We'd like to put a banner on the gym wall
for softball. That's been one of our goals."
The Portagers will look to clothe the
bare space this season with a mix of experience and young promise."
With four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen,
Onekama returns with the majority of its infield from last season
with the exception of pitcher Chelsea Miller.
Along with four fellow seniors from last year, Miller graduated,
leaving a gap to fill on the mound.
Looking to fill the void will be junior Brooke Sedelmaier and
freshman Emily Bergren.
“Last year we had Chelsea come in and do a great job for us,”
Sedelmaier said. “She did everything we could ask of her.
“(Brooke Sedelmaier and Bergren) don’t have a whole lot of
experience on the mound, but they’re starting to show in practice
that they’re very comfortable there,” he added. “They’ll probably
split time on the mound. The plan right now is to pitch one one game
and one the second game (during doubleheaders).
“This year, we’ve focused on having a little more than just a
fastball. We’ve got a few different pitches we’re throwing and both
girls are throwing them fairly effectively right now. They just need
to get out on the mound and actually throw.”
The returning core of infielders the new pitchers will be backed by
include seniors Katie Prielipp, Sherece Revolt and Ashley Schultz at
second base, shortstop and third respectively, while senior Diamond
Kimpel and Jennica Mathieu are expected to split time at first. The
Portagers are without last year’s senior catcher Paige Rutowski as
well, but Sedelmaier and Prielipp plan to share the workload.
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Onekama’s Brooke Sedelmaier
will likely log a lot of innings on the mound for the Portagers this
season. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)
With a small team, the players will have to
contribute in a variety of ways in a variety of different positions.
“We have to,” Sedelmaier said. “We’ve got low numbers with only 12 on
the team. It really shows the importance of all the girls being familiar
with all the positions.”
On the offensive end, Sedelmaier has been pleasantly surprised with the
way his team has been swinging the bats.
“We seem to be a little more confident,” he said. “We seem to be
stinging the ball a little more than what we have in years past. And
actually I’ve been relatively surprised by that. I thought that was
going to be one of our weak spots, but we’ve actually hit the ball well
beyond what I expected.”
The Portagers will need the pieces to fall in place as they head into
what Sedelmaier believes is one of the toughest schedules he’s seen.
“We know we’re going up against some tough competition out there, but
we’re interested in gauging ourselves against it and see where we fall,”
he said. “We’re relatively confident that we can compete with anybody.
It’s just a matter of limiting our mistakes and playing ball the way
we’re capable of playing.
“I think our defense is going to be a strong point for us. I think our
batting is going to be our strong point, and our pitching is kind of the
unknown right now. If we pull it all together though, I think we can
have a very successful season.” |