By RYAN WALKER
The Norwell softball team, despite a tough 7-4 sectional championship loss to Bellmont, had a successful 13-7 record on the season last year.
That team had four seniors that took over most offensive statistical categories on the roster, and because of that, has quite the gap at spots, including at shortstop and catcher. Allyson Burtron, Brielle Nunley, Hannah Troyer, and Kirtlynn Lemler were top five in batting average, RBIs, home runs, on-base percentage, and extra-base hits, to name a few.
On top of graduation losses, the Knights are under a new head coach Kevin Baird.
Baird started coaching when his son played baseball but found a new passion for softball 11 years ago when his daughter was involved in the rec league. He continues coaching the Indiana Bombers Gold 08 summer team in the summertime.
Baird says his coaching style teaches his players maximum potential in power at the plate but pesky baserunners when they’re on base.
“I bring an intense/aggressive style to the game,” he said. “High energy focusing on putting a lot of pressure on our opponents.”
The four seniors from a season ago produced 16 of the 26 home runs as a team, but Biard’s style of coaching should translate well as the top-four stolen base leaders return.
Perhaps the biggest piece for the Knights is junior Jordan Markley. The centerfielder swiped the most bags (14) while hitting an impressive .447 at the plate and added 13 extra-base hits, the most out of all returning players.
Junior counterpart Sami Lemler was the top RBI leader (21) from all returners and slugged three home runs, and had 10 stolen bases. Lemler also will look to have a bigger role on the mound this season with the loss of the main No. 1 pitcher Nunley. She logged 30 innings and posted a 3.50 earned run average. When not on the mound, Lemler is listed as the only shortstop so far on the roster to fill that position gap.
The main target to replace Nunley as a go-to pitcher is sophomore Madyson Sonnigsen, who split the total inning last year. She tallied 47 innings on the bump, posted a 5.36 ERA, and struck out 34 batters. Look for Sonnigsen to have a significant role in her second year at the varsity level.
Coach Biard also mentions Emma Bailey as a key contributor and will see action in the infield. The senior hit .305 and stole seven bags.
In the Northeast 8 Conference, Leo is the defending champ at 7-0, and Columbia City was runner-up at 6-1. Biard expects them to be right back at the top.
As for Norwell, the Knights tied for third with Huntington North and Bellmont. Expect all three to be in the mix again.
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