ATLANTIC – Monday marked the start of the Iowa high school softball season.
Along with their baseball counterparts, teams across the state engaged in their first full week of practice, in preparation for the season opening contests in a couple of weeks.
Atlantic got off to an unofficial start a couple of weeks ago with photo day, using the stock car from Adam Hensel, owner of Adam Hensel Motorsports, as the prop.
It was no conicidence. Longtime Trojan coach Terry Hinzman noted that using the yellow stock car will play into the season’s theme and goals.
“The whole idea behind it is because a lot of times, we get a little tentative and at the plate when we’re behind in the count or make an error,” said Hinzman. “You drive through it. You put the pedal to the metal and drive as hard as you can through it. We’ll use that theme all season long.”
Expectations are high on the race course, and as is always the case for the Trojans, on the softball field. The Trojans reached the state tournament in 2021, eventually turning in a fourth-place finish, while regional final appearances came in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
A year ago, Atlantic went 27-13, and its 16-4 Hawkeye Ten Conference record was third best, behind Clarinda and Creston.
A year ago, Clarinda clipped the Trojans in the regional semifinals, but this year Hinzman and his team believe they have what it takes to make a return to Fort Dodge’s Harlan Rogers Sports Complex and the state tournament.
While there’s some holes to fill with graduation losses – notably, outfielder Claire Pellett and pitcher Riley Wood – there’s a plethora of returning starters whose goal is making that deep post-season run.
“We’ve got a lot of experience on the field, but we’ve got some spots to fill on the field and it’s going to be difficult to replace some of the seniors,” said Hinzman. “Some of the younger players are going to have to step it up.”
But there’s plenty of veterans who’ll help lead the way.
Zoey Kirchhoff, a junior who’ll primarily play shortstop but also see time pitching, drove in 57 runs, third best in Iowa Class 3A a year ago, and had nine home runs, fifth best in Class 3A.
Junior Lila Wiederstein, the Class 3A first-team all-stater who’ll return at catcher, had a phenomenal season at the plate, with a .556 average (tied for fifth in Class 3A) a .592 on-base percentage and a .785 slugging percentage. Nineteen of her 75 base hits were for extra bases, including four home runs, and she knocked in 48 runs. Another junior, Makenna Schroeder, returns a team-best 21 stolen bases, while Wiederstein was perfect in 17 base thefts.
“Just get out of the way. I let them do pretty much what they want to do,” said Hinzman of his power hitters. “When they were younger, we had to go over strike counts and what pitches to look for and being patient … confidence is huge, and there’s several of our hitters who have gained confidence and just got better.”
On the mound, sophomore Peyton McLaren has the best returning ERA with a 1.81, with 35 strikeouts against 13 walks in 50-1/3 innings, going 7-1 and recording a save. Kirchhoff was 5-4 record-wise, with a 4.60 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 45-2/3 innings. Brynn Lamp and Dylan Ball have also done well in spring workouts and could work into the rotation.
Senior McKenna Sonntag is being penciled in at second base but could move around depending on the situation. Sophomore Jillian Saathoff will be at first and junior Claire Schroder will probably return to third base.
Adler Bruce and Makenna Schroeder are the outfield veterans, but there will be some replacements as well due to Pellett’s graduation.
Kirkhoff, McLaren and Wiederstein were first-team all-Hawkeye Ten Conference a year ago.
The defense had a 94.4% success rate, with 46 errors in 40 games. So pretty good, but of course, it can always be improved.
“With experience and more time on the field, I think it got better as the season went on, and I think we can pick up where we left off and improve on that as well,” said Hinzman.
The season starts May 27 with a road double-header at Denison-Schleswig. It’ll be quite a road trip to start the season, with stops at Missouri Valley, Glenwood, Ballard, Harlan, Creston and Shenandoah before finally the home opener June 6, with a triangular involving Estherville-Lincoln Central and Carlisle.
Of the six Hawkeye Ten Conference double-headers, only Council Bluffs St. Albert and Red Oak, June 23 and 26, respectively, are at home. The road DH’s, all from the north, are the aforementioned Denison-Schleswig and Harlan (June 2), plus Council Bluffs Lewis Central (June 9) and Carroll Kuemper Catholic (June 16).
The non-conference schedule also includes the usual weekend tournaments at Creston and Fort Dodge, and a season-ending run of top-tier opponents including West Des Moines Dowling, Sioux City Heelan, ADM, Treynor and Sioux City East.
Indeed, iron sharpens iron.
“We (players and coaches) met the end of last season, and I think they felt like they weren’t challenged at of the season,” said Hinzman. “We beefed it up quite a bit … and I feel that the more we see better pitching moving into the tournaments, that will give us a benefit. Good teams will always expose your weaknesses, and when you play Class 4A and 5A teams, you’d better be on point.”
What’s the thing Hinzman is most looking forward to?
“What I’m looking for is picking up where we left off at the end of last season. I think we progressively got better and better as the season went along,” he said. “We unfortunately hit a wall at the end unfortunately and that’s something we’ll have to overcome. I feel the difference in this team and some of the others is the camaraderie they have. We’ve been talking in the off-season about playing for each other, which is more than playing with your friends or people that you know. It’s much deeper than that.
“I think the way you play on the field and look at every at-bat and every pitch is a little bit different with a little more meaning. We’ve been stressing those kinds of things, and I’m a little bit anxious I suppose and excited at the same time to see how that all plays off as we get ready to start the season,” Hinzman concluded.