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Nevada softball looks to continue upward swing
Coming off an 11-win season, the most in the history of Nevada softball, the Lady Tigers are looking to take the next step -- a winning record.
A program that only started in 2000, the Lady Tigers have been taking baby steps each of the past four seasons, gradually working their way from a sure-fire 10-run rule candidate, into a team that can beat anybody at any time.
Last season the Lady Tigers narrowly missed finishing above .500, ending the year with an 11-14 mark.
While they still finished sixth in the six-team Class 3, District 12, the Lady Tigers served notice to the rest of the field. They had finally become more than an automatic win as they earned their first victory over a district opponent.
This year the Lady Tigers have a new head coach. Gone is program starter Chris Garzone, who took an administrative position in Pittsburg, Kan. In his place is Brandi Thomsen, who assisted Garzone last year, her first with the team.
Thomsen, a former Division I softball player at the University of Missouri, takes her first step into the head coaching ring.
It's a step Thomsen has been looking forward to.
"I enjoy it," Thomsen said of being in charge. "I get to do it my way. I'm kind of bossy like that."
Her way is to take the team and elevate their game yet again. She says the team has developed the same mindset.
"Last year the girls got better, but it's left several of them with a want to keep progressing and getting better," she said.
Saying it is one thing, but getting results on the field is another. For one, the team must replace four-year starters Amanda Kitsmiller, Bridget Baldwin and Whitney Smith. Also having graduated is Chanelle Braun, one of the team's biggest bats a year ago.
Baldwin was an All-District 12 and All-Southwest Conference outfielder, who has gone on to play softball at Crowder College. Baldwin is the first Nevada softball player to play past high school.
Smith was the team's pitcher the past four seasons. Her departure left a void in the circle that a couple of sophomores will have to fill.
Trying to take Smith's place will be Heather Klingaman and Katelyn Brier. Thomsen said both are capable and that neither had proven to be ahead of the other.
"They're very even with speed and work ethic," Thomsen said. "Each of them has a different specialty pitch. They are very much a team in themselves. They complement each other real well.
Thomsen feels that the addition of first-year assistant coach Mandy Grainger has helped both pitchers.
Grainger pitched at Maple Woods Community College and brings expertise that can complement Thomsen, who was the Lady Tiger's hitting coach last season.
"She's just a good athlete in her own right, and a great coach too." Thomsen said of Grainger. "She does a great job of explaining things to kids."
Thomsen said Grainger's tutelage with the young pitchers has them looking like a strength instead of a weakness.
"They're still young though," Thomsen said. "They are going to get hit. We just have to pick them up in the field."
In the field the Lady Tigers should be just as strong as last season, if not stronger.
Returning at shortstop is junior Audrey Wallace. Wallace was an All-District 12 and All-Southwest Conference selection last year, leading the team in batting average and hits.
Wallace also was a key player on a summer team that recently won a national championship.
Also on that summer team based out of Arkansas was Erica Klinksick. Klinksick will be in the infield this fall for the Lady Tigers, either at third base or first base. Currently she is battling with fellow junior Blaine Gibbs, who will play the other position, depending on how things shake out during the first few games.
Returning at second base is the team's lone senior, Mallori Adams. Adams was an all-conference selection in 2003, and is being counted on for leadership on a team full of younger players.
The Lady Tigers also have a first-team all-district and all-conference returner in the outfield as Afton Baldwin, who played left field last season, replaces her departed sister in center field this year. Taking Baldwin's place in left field is Brittany Pettibon, a junior who was used largely as a pinch runner last season. Pettibon has speed to burn, teaming with Baldwin to give Thomsen a pair of extremely quick outfielders.
In right field will be the platooning tandem of sophomores, Katelyn Brier and Megan Ray. Ray will play right when Brier pitches, and Brier will likely play right when she is not in the circle.
At catcher is emotional spark plug and 2004 second-team all-district selection Tiffany Cartwright. The junior backstop improved by leaps and bounds last season and Thomsen has been leaning on her to take her game to the next level in 2005.
Other sophomores and a very talented freshman class leave the Lady Tigers in good shape if they need to call someone up and for the next few seasons.
The Lady Tigers are the first fall sports team to open the 2005 campaign. They start the season Monday when they travel to Clinton.