7/8/9 Softball: A Successful Year (in Review)

Coach Dave Hohmann takes a look at the season of his 7/8/9 softball team: I want to commend everyone for a successful season! We ended 5-5 and closed out strong with three wins in a row including a 20-5 drubbing of Woodcliff Lake in our last game. The best thing about that last victory was that we played very well on the field and at the plate – most of our runs were off hits rather than walks (11 RBIs on 11 hits!). This indicates to me that we improved throughout the season – probably the most important goal for rec ball (besides having fun!).

I wanted to share some of our team stats. Overall we scored 91 runs while allowing 85. Our team batting average was a very nice .312 and we got on base over half the time .523. We had 333 at bats, 102 walks with only 77 Ks. Best of all is that we had 72 hits including five home runs! 

Our pitching staff faced 314 batters this season, allowed only 55 hits and struck out a fantastic 81 while giving up 106 walks. We certainly know that all our pitchers need to work on their form (how can we not after being reminded constantly by the Woodcliff Lake coaches?) in the off season, but that’s the purpose of rec ball. We’re playing to participate, get better and improve our skills (and have fun!).

Anytime a batter can hit over .500 for the season it’s a very special year and we had three girls who did just that! One, Emily Molk, hit a whopping .706! Emily went to the plate 21 times this season and got 12 hits and walked four times. Her on-base percentage was a fantastic .762! In other words, she got on base more than 75 percent of the time. She hit three home runs, had 18 RBIs and scored 12 times herself. One of her three home runs was a grand-slam! Kathleen Hanna and Victoria Geimke also hit over .500 and had on base percentages over .600! Kathleen missed quite a few games to injury but had the second most hits on the team with 10. Marcella Ortiz had the second most RBIs at 11. She had seven hits and batted .318. Sonya Cheema also had a great season hitting two home runs (in the same game against the league power house Park Ridge!) and scored 11 times. She had a .389 batting average and OB percentage of .625. Jess Molina and Mariel Hohmann also contributed offensively. Each had seven  hits and combined for an additional 13 RBIs. Jess’s batting average was a very good .438 and Mariel’s a respectable 0.350. Mariel was second on the team with walks at 11. Isabella Guerriero, Alexa Montana and Delia Drake (who led the team with 12 walks!) also contributed offensively by having excellent on base percentages – all above .500! Thanks to Emilie McLaughlin who helped out in a couple of games. She had a .375 batting average with three hits on eight at bats. Everyone on the team provided runs – no one scored less than two times! I hope that everyone became more comfortable at the plate and will progress to only greater things in the future. Keep swinging the bat (and have fun!).

We got some great pitching from our girls! Our three starting pitchers were Marcella Ortiz, Olivia Gow and Victoria Geimke but we also had some help from Kathleen Hanna, Rachel Ocher and Emilie McLaughlin. Marcella led the team ERA with a 6.75! She pitched 28 innings and allowed only 15 hits and 21 earned runs. She struck out 45 while walking 43. The best thing about Marcella was her pitch “selection.” Even though she’d walk a batter or two, she’d still get out of the inning with a minimum of runs scored. A lot of opposing runners were stranded when Marcella pitched. Opposing hitters only batted .158 against her! Olivia pitched very well for a young hurler. She gave up 22 hits and 33 earned runs but she struck out 18 of the 97 at bats she faced. She kept us in every game she pitched and her contributions were greatly appreciated! Victoria also pitched well. Opponents only had a .286 batting average against her. In limited work (she only faced 34 batters) she struck out nine and walked 13. I would have been much happier giving her more opportunities to pitch but busy teenagers have other important things to do (go cheerleaders!). We also got some strong relief from Emilie, Rachel and Kathleen – it would have been great getting some more pitching time for these girls too, but too many of our games - particularly at the end of the season - were cut short. I hope all the girls will continue to work on their form, let’s get rid of the “crow hops,” and most importantly have fun! 

I’d say more about our team defense but I’ve already gone on long enough. Suffice it to say that I was particularly impressed with the defensive contributions of Jess, Mariel, Kathleen, Emily, Marcella and Emilie. I felt like I could play them anywhere. It’s not to say though that we didn’t get some great plays out of the rest of the girls. I just didn’t keep proper notes of them in my score book. I hope all the girls will want to continue playing ball. I truly love the game (I’m a big SF Giants fan if you don’t already know) and in my opinion, to truly appreciate the game (and not be bored on the field) is to get into every play – think about what the batter is going to do, what the pitcher is going to throw, what you’re going to do when the ball is in play, etc. When you’re on the field you really do have something to do every play. 

Thanks again for a memorable season. I hope to see you again in summer or fall ball. Remember to keep throwing, catching and hitting – but most importantly – participate and HAVE FUN!