16
Elkton/Yoncalla Softball
Tayla Swearingen prepares to catch a ball while playing third base.
Team Rundown:
When it comes to the Elkton/
Yoncalla softball team, softball ex-
perience is not something that the
team has. Of the 12 players on the
team, half of them are freshmen and
three have never played the sport be-
fore. These new players are joining
returning players who have played a
handful of years at most.
“No habits are better than bad
habits,” said head coach Dan
LaChapelle. “They’re moldable with-
out having to break them first.”
After going 7-16 last season, the
team graduated five players and with
two more not coming back this sea-
son there are plenty of spots to fill.
LaChapelle noted that the lack of
players is a result of the two schools
being half an hour apart creating
problems for whichever school they
are at for the season (this year they
Jenae Hulsey throws home from fi rst base during practice.
are playing at Yoncalla).
Regardless of player that are not
there, the team has back a few play-
ers including infielder Kieryn Carnes
who in her first year playing softball
last season was named second team
all-league. At pitcher the team will be
relying on Jenae Hulsey to help lead
the way.
“I’ve never really played. I’ve
been working on pitching a lot and
(LaChapelle) is talking about putting
me in a game,” she said. “It’s exciting
and nervous. I can’t wait, it’s going
to be fun.”
Regardless of any setbacks or who
is or who is not playing, LaChapelle
wants what any coach wants: to get
better.
“Just to play our best. I don’t care
about the wins and losses as long
as we’re not beating ourselves and
we’re playing our game and having a
good time.”
Team Perspective with Jamie Glenn:
On softball experience
I’ve played for four years. I’ve re-
ally liked the atmosphere. It’s just a
lot different then volleyball and bas-
ketball because I feel like there’s a
lot more toughness involved with it.
Because in volleyball and basketball
you don’t have a ball coming at your
face at like 100 miles per hour. And
you’re forcing yourself to stop and
make a good throw and hit decent.
I just started catching last year. My
other two years I was in the outfield.
I stepped up to the plate, no pun in-
tended, last year catching. I really like
it.
On competition in league
I’d stretch to say Monroe is a big-
ger threat then North Douglas.
On co-opting with Elkton
I feel like at first with the incoming
freshman to them it takes a little bit
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of getting used to. But as you grow
older and you form a bond with the
other school it’s a lot more variety
and to me that’s exciting.
On what to expect from the season
I think we’re going to have a re-
ally good season this year. We have
a lot of young, inexperienced play-
ers but we have athletes. A team-
mate that I think will do really well
is Jenae Hulsey on her pitching abil-
ity because she’s pretty accurate and
throws a nice fastball. It’s exciting to
watch her grow.
I’m excited to finish out my sen-
ior year with a bunch of girls that I
know are here because they love to
play and to send me off on a positive
note.