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Annies’
Softball Looks for Strong 2008 Campaign
With a new coach and a new year, the 2008
Centralia Annies’ softball team has high
hopes. With a strong offense, three quality
pitchers, and a blend of experience and young
talent, the girls have the potential to have a
very good year. Coach Doug Jack is entering his
first year as head coach, and he is very eager
to see what his team can do on the field.
Coach Jack is in his second year teaching
at
Centralia
High School
. He has also been freshman boys’ basketball
coach for two years. Prior to coaching at CHS,
Jack had spent two years at
Greenville
College
as assistant basketball coach. He began his
coaching career as head basketball coach of
Patoka
High School
.
The Annies also add a new assistant in
Coach Becky Summers. Coach Jack explained that
she has really helped him out in his move to
coaching girls’ softball. “With her
experience playing, at the high school and
college level, adding that energy has been good
for me, to learn, and the girls. I think they
relate to her a lot, and she relates things back
to me to help me out with the whole transition
into the girls’ game.”
With five seniors on his team including
four who have previously received significant
varsity playing time, Coach Jack is expecting a
few girls to step up as leaders. “Bailee
Winkler is our catcher, she’s a senior. She
leads by example, leads vocally on the field.
Sam Koelmel is a pitcher. She’s quiet but she
also leads by example. Ashton Tellefsen is a
player who covers third base really well. I’ve
been impressed with her fielding so far this
season. Brittany Davis, hitting wise, she has a
lot of skills there, a lot of power.”
The girls are also very strong from the
junior class and down. “We have Shakayla
Webster, shortstop. She’s our leadoff hitter,
a lot of speed, good arm. Then we have Bailey
Demijan, pitcher. She also plays some center
field. She’s a left handed hitter who makes a
lot of contact at the plate and has good speed.
We have Katie Boswell at first base. She has
good power at the plate. She has a lot of range
at first. She will pretty much scoop up anything
thrown over there. Jerica Zanton is at second
base, she’s a great fielder. She’s really
accurate, has real quick hands, and she makes
decent contact at the plate. Then, we have an
assortment of sophomores: Tara Kelly, Jacy
Chapman, Jesse Chapman. Ashley Woodrome is a
phenomenal pitcher who’s worked herself in. As
far as having pitchers in a one, two, three
order, she’s right up there and could be a
possible number one pitcher as a sophomore.
Bailey, Sam, they all have their own style. We
have Stephanie Snyder, who’s a freshman.
She’s come in and shown a lot of pop and
athleticism as a freshman. She has a lot of
learning, a lot of raw skills that we’re going
to try to polish up.”
Coach Jack’s main goal for the year is
to simply get better. “I would like to see the
girls understand the game, understand how we
want things done. I want them to have the
passion for the game to get better. They can’t
be out there, afraid to lose. We have to cut
down on mistakes, offensively and defensively
both.”
There are a few different areas that the
girls will need to improve upon to have success.
“We need to be more aggressive at the plate,
making contact no matter what the situation,
being able to adjust to the pitcher.
Defensively, we have to be ready and not make
mistakes. We have to have fun, cheer each other
on and have a good time. Hopefully, that comes
with having success. I guess that’s my goal.
We need to keep building a tradition for the
young girls.”
Click on coaches
below to read Stile's interviews.
Head Baseball Coach Matt Kottmeyer
Head Annies' Track Coach Andrew Weihe
Head
Wrestling Coach Dick Carpenter
Annies' Head Basketball Coach Roger Stieg
Orphans' Head Basketball Coach Lee Bennett
Cross Country Coach JJ DeMattei
Annies' Tennis Coach Ryan Blaha
Golf Coach
John Sallee
Football Coach Phil
Watson
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