Rebuilding the base

A year removed from not fielding a team at all and plugging in another first-year head coach, the fourth in four years, Southwestern Community College softball is looking to rebuild the base of the program in 2019.

Nick Weinmeister was hired back in May, taking over a program that canceled the 2018 season due to low roster numbers.

As a Janesville, Iowa native, Weinmeister has tasked himself with a new challenge to restart a program that finished with a .500 record just three seasons prior in 2016.

The roster holds a select few players who decided to stay with the program after missing the season last year, otherwise it will be almost entirely new faces from two years ago.

Southwestern will be forced to move players around to try and sure-up spots in the field as the roster holds just 13 players for the upcoming year.

Though Weinmeister has been hard on the recruiting trail for next season, this year his focus is sustenance.

“I needed to find players as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” said Weinmeister. “One, (to) hopefully have a season this year and also to try not to just put a product out there. Hopefully, get players that would be able to carry over for next year. ... It was about getting quality players, ones that are not only bodies to fill spots but can help us on the field.”

The first-year head coach is anxious to get the Spartans on the field as Southwestern has spent a majority of its time practicing inside on the gym floor due to the weather.

Pitching staff

Kelsey Tibbs of Earlham is going to be the Spartans No. 1 option in the circle. In her senior season at Earlham, Tibbs threw 111 2/3 innings with a 4.59 ERA while striking out 100 batters.

“She comes in as a true pitcher. ... She will allow us to that luxury to have some players in some other spots that don’t have to have to take as much of the pitching duty,” said Weinmeister.

On the opposite end of the circle will be a combination of two left-handed local catchers in Kaitlyn Schad and Makinna Fitzgerald.

“She has the leadership qualities we like to see,” said Weinmeister of Fitzgerald. “She is a utility player in every sense of the word.”

Schad is a transfer from Simpson College and hails from Martensdale-St. Marys while Fitzgerald played softball at Lenox in high school.

Both catchers led their high school teams at the plate their senior seasons as Schad hit for a .460 average while Fitzgerald batted .414.

Fielding

The rest of the fielding duties will be mixed and matched said Weinmeister, who has a number of other local athletes on the diamond.

Weinmeister expects whoever is out of the catcher’s gear will be handling the first base duties. He also expects Heather Jessen, a track anc cross country athlete at SWCC, to see some time tending the right side of the infield.

At second base Weinmeister said the Spartans will likely have Jessen or Meghan Gould of Murray.

Creston’s own Cayla Maitlen is on the roster for the Spartans and Weinmeister is looking to her to fill the shortstop duties along with another freshman in Ella Rutherford.

“Cayla Maitlen is one of our better all-around athletes. Having seen her play this past summer at Creston was big,” Weinmeister said. “She will probably play every single infield position for us at some point in time and that’s a testament to her versatility.”

At third base will be Ali Enright of Seymour, who Weinmeister stated is the vocal leader of the infield. Weinmeister noted that Enright may see some time in the circle as well for the Spartans.

Out in the grass will be another mixing and matching game as the season progresses and as Weinmeister sees more action on the field.

Lindsay Rader and Amaya Porch will defend the corner spots in the outfield while Klarissa McElroy is expected to see a good chunk of time in center. Hannah Perez and Danielle De La Fuente are also expected to mix in in the outfield as well.

At the dish

Production at the plate is expected from the top of the lineup, but Weinmeister thinks the Spartans will cause some fits if they can get production through all nine hitters.

“I think our strength will be defensively. ... We have a solid one through five at the plate. If we get some production from the bottom of our lineup we are going to be putting up some runs,” said Weinmeister.

Weinmeister is expecting Schad to have a good season at the plate after coming off an all-state season her senior year of high school.

Enright, who hit .353 her senior year at Seymour is also expecting to be a serious contributor with the bat.

Conference expectations

Starting March 20, Southwestern will open up a 14-game homestand, which will be concluded by SWCC opening up conference play.

“I think for this team it’s going to be really crucial for us,” said Weinmeister. “Every player on our roster has not played an in-season game. ... We have no experience whatsoever in pressure situations in games that count.

“Being able to play at home, where we’re most comfortable, is huge,” Weinmeister added.

However, the Spartans don’t start with an easy conference task.

SWCC opens the conference slate with the top two squads in the ICCAC from last season in Kirkwood (49-13, 18-6 last year in the ICCAC) and Des Moines Area (48-2, 22-0).

The Eagles currently sit at No. 4 in the 2019 NJCAA Div. II rankings while DMACC holds down the No. 8 slot.

“That is a very quick welcome to the ICCAC for sure,” said Weinmeister. “Top to bottom there is really no games that you can look at and say, ‘we should expect to win that.’”

Weinmeister wants SWCC to compete in every game this season as he hopes the Spartans grow with daily progressions.

Making sure Southwestern takes care of the small details and continues to build through the season, heading into the postseason is the main focus for SWCC and Weinmeister.

SWCC softball schedule

March 13 – at North Central Missouri, 2 p.m. DH

March 17 – at Kansas City Kansas CC, 2 p.m. DH

March 18 – at Southeast CC, 3 p.m. DH

March 19 – at Southeast CC, 12 p.m. DH

March 20 – North Platte CC, 2 p.m. DH

March 21 – North Platte CC, 12 p.m. DH

March 23 – Marshalltown CC, 1 p.m. DH

March 25 – Simpson JV, 3 p.m. DH

March 28 – Indian Hills CC, 2 p.m. DH

March 30 – *Kirkwood CC, 12 p.m. DH

March 31 – *Des Moines Area CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 1 – at Graceland JV, 3 p.m.

April 3 – *Iowa Central CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 6 – at *Ellsworth, 1 p.m. DH

April 7 – at *Kirkwood CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 9 – at Marshalltown, 2 p.m. DH

April 11 – Graceland JV, 3 p.m.

April 13 – *North Iowa Area CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 14 – at *Iowa Central CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 16 – Kansas City Kansas CC, 2 p.m. DH

April 18 – at Indians Hills CC, 2 p.m. DH

April 19 – *Iowa Lakes CC, 2 p.m. DH

April 20 – *Ellsworth CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 22 – at Simpson JV, 4 p.m. DH

April 24 – at *Northeast CC, 2 p.m. DH

April 27 – at *North Iowa Area CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 28 – at *Iowa Lakes CC, 12 p.m. DH

April 30 – North Central Missouri, 2 p.m. DH

May 4 – *Northeast CC, 1 p.m. DH

May 5 – at *Des Moines Area CC, 12 p.m. DH

* = denotes conference game

DH = doubleheader