Sports
Novato's Softball Goal: To Be Feared Someday
New coach inherits a young team that features eight freshmen, but the squad led by Allie Bailey and Shakira Johnson already is surprising some of its competition.
There’s young and then there’s young.
The girls softball team is young. Very young.
With eight freshman among his 15 players, first-year coach Don Smith knows he’s going to take some lumps this season.
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That’s what's going to make the wins – the Hornets already have two – and the improvement all the more enjoyable.
“My challenge is to take these young ladies who don’t have experience and teach them the sport,” Smith said. “In the end, I’m going to judge myself by how much they’ve learned. Anyone can take a great athlete and make her a great player. I judge myself on how good the weakest link turns out to be.”
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Novato’s links have looked surprisingly strong in the early going. After having won only five games all of last season with a much older roster, Smith’s youngsters won both their non-league games this month before running into a couple of Marin County Athletic League buzzsaws.
“A lot of them have played in the Novato Heat program, so they have basic general knowledge of what to do,” Smith noted. “What I’m dealing with is a slight fear factor – ‘I’m a freshman and she’s a junior’ type of deal.”
The Hornets do have some juniors and seniors to lead the way.
Senior center fielder , a returning all-leaguer, is one of the team’s top hitters. Junior , a basketball player taking up softball for the first time, has looked good at shortstop. And junior Caity Ussery is the team’s ace pitcher, although not necessarily by design.
“We were supposed to have several players returning from last year,” Smith said. “Two went to track and the pitcher they had for two years wanted to concentrate on Scottish dancing.”
, the starting second baseman, is the leader of the freshman group.
Like most MCAL teams, the Hornets have been hampered by the weather and Ski Week. That hasn’t changed the long-range plans.
“The girls, they have fight in them,” Smith assured. “With the team being so young and everyone (else in the league) having a competitive pitcher … I’d like to win them all, but I can see 3-5 (MCAL) games once we get the bugs out.
“Once we get the fear out of them, competitively they will be stronger.”
NOVATO HIGH 2011 SOFTBALL SCHEDULE
Home games in CAPS
Novato 17, Elsie Allen 1
San Rafael 9, Novato 2
Novato 8, Marin Academy 5
Tam 14, Novato 1
March 14, TERRA LINDA, 4:30 p.m.
March 17, BRANSON, 4:30 p.m.
March 21, at San Marin, 6 p.m.
March 24, DRAKE, 4:30 p.m.
March 29, JUSTIN-SIENA, 4:30 p.m.
March 31, at Marin Catholic, 4:30 p.m.
April 4, at Redwood, 4:30 p.m.
April 7, SAN RAFAEL, 4:30 p.m.
April 18, at Tam, 4:30 p.m.
April 21, at Terra Linda, 4:30 p.m.
April 25, at Branson, 4:30 p.m.
April 28, SAN MARIN, 4:30 p.m.
May 2, at Drake, 4:30 p.m.
May 5, at Justin-Siena, 4:30 p.m.
May 9, MARIN CATHOLIC, 4:30 p.m.
May 12, REDWOOD, 4:30 p.m.
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