Softball looking for eight straight trip to State

Joe Terry

For a team that has never missed the State tournament in the history of the program, the Glasgow softball team has a lot of holes to fix if it hopes to keep its streak going, but could be returning the best hitting team in team history. Nine players are expected to return from last year's state qualifier.

With the departure of last year's seniors, the most glaring holes are left in the starting battery, with the Scotties having to groom all new starting pitchers and catchers.

On the mound, the Scotties will be relying on the arms of Kaitlin Hagfeldt and Jess Mehling, two players who pitched sporadically last season but will need to up their load this spring. Shelby Fossum, who had nine wins last season and would have been the favorite to begin the season as the starter, will be recovering for at least the first half of the season after injuring her knee in the final game of the girls' basketball season.

At catcher, there's a little less experience, but the Scotties should have a good young corps with Katie Kittleson and Tyana Rasmusan.

“That's probably the most important spot in fast pitch is the catcher,” head coach Mark Falcon said. “You have to catch the ball and get rid of it quick and move fast.” 

The Scotties will also have to fill a hole at shortstop, where senior Sheilda Pattison, a second baseman last year, or freshman Alex Page are expected to fill in. If it is Pattison playing shortstop, then it will be Page or another player filling on the other side of the middle infield.

“I guess that's the biggest thing replacing the shortstop,” head coach Mark Falcon said.

But for all the difficulty the Scotties may have filling holes on defense, the offense is expected to carry the team. 

Pattison, who hit .420 with 33 RBI last season and .520 with a school-record 42 RBI in 2008, will be gunning for the school career record in hits and RBI and will most likely move up to the third spot in the batting order. Mehling, who scored 38 runs on 38 hits last season, will be hitting in the two hole and either Hagfeldt or Rasmusan will be batting leadoff.

“Last year we had our best hitting we've ever had as a team,” Falcon said. “We have a lot of those kids returning.”

The Scotties will open the season on the road at the Cut Bank Invitational on April 1, and will have their first home game on April 10, when they will play host to four games at the Glasgow Invitational.

But with the large amount of snow still on the field, the Scotties will be practicing inside until the season warms up. As Falcon quipped, the Scotties' first outdoor practice could come at their first game.

“The girls we have coming back are pretty athletic,” Falcon said. “They can play a bunch of positions. We have a lot of competitors.”

With four teams heading to State from the Eastern Division, Falcon said he expects the team to be right in the hunt for the tournament.

“We should be right in there about third, fourth or fifth,” Falcon said.