Cathy Cronbaugh says her first goal as the new head coach of the Belle Plaine softball team is to build and/or remodel the program from the ground up. After many years as a teacher and coach in the district, she assumed the top job this summer and decided the best way to build a strong high school program is to start with the younger set.

“We will start with the third, fourth and fifth graders in a Little League program,” she said. They will play in the Benton County League and have ten games and two tournaments this season. Phillip Stanerson is their coach and there are 16-17 players on his roster.

Todd Bohlen returns as the coach at the junior high level, which will now include sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Cronbaugh said the 22-player squad will play on Tuesday and Friday nights and some morning games as well.

Although she is a new head coach, Cronbaugh has a lot of past experience. She was a volunteer assistant for the past three seasons and while at Iowa State, she played two years for the Cyclones in what she calls the “pre-Title 19, pre-scholarship days.”

This year’s Plainsman team should be improved over last year’s squad, with one more year of experience and some off-season work by many of the players. Senior leadership will be provided by pitcher Kristen Bevins, centerfielder Katie Walton and first baseman Meghan Ehlen. Bevins will also play at third when she’s not pitching.

This year’s juniors include Brenna Ford at catcher, second base and outfield, Bree Nerison in the outfield and shortstop Taylor Schafbuch. Sophomores include Joy Cronbaugh, pitcher and third base, and Connor Roth, currently on the injured list.

The freshmen include Macy DeMeulenaere in the outfield, Melissa Janss, catcher and second base and Meghan Miller, outfield.

Four pre-freshmen who will also see some varsity action will include Julie Long, Molly O’Brien, Cheyann Markham and Melissa Stull.

Due to the appearance of several Belle Plaine athletes at the state track meet last week, Cronbaugh said practice was a little difficult with several players either competing or watching their friends at state. But a lot of the work was done in the preseason, when several members of the squad participated in pitching, catching or hitting clinics. The pitchers also threw during the winter, the coach said.

Cronbaugh said while the pitching staff which had a great 2.1 earned run average a year ago, should again be one of the team strengths. She said the Plainsmen need to clean up on their fielding and she has instructed the base runners that they have a “go” sign whenever they want to take an additional base.

She added that she is looking for a good season and thinks her team should be in the mix with other top teams in the SICL, which she mentioned as being English Valleys, North Mahaska and Iowa Valley.

The varsity assistant coach this season is Katie Parr, the district Spanish teacher and the new varsity volleyball coach.

The team is slated to make its 2009 debut tonight (Tuesday) when they host Keota at 6:30 p.m. The Plainsmen will then be on the road for the next nine dates. While this year’s schedule is similar to that in year’s past, one notable addition is the Nevada Softball Invitational on July 3, where Cronbaugh said her team will see some teams from larger schools and possibly some teams they will encounter in district action.

The Plainsmen have also added a 10th grade tournament at home on June 20 with BGM, Keota and Tri-County.
Playing for Addison

Cronbaugh also said that the team’s “Playing for Addison” campaign is continuing and has been very successful to this point. The team sold more than 450 t-shirts and many area businesses have agreed to make donations based on the number of base hits and extra base hits the team collects in each game. She said her goal was to have four businesses sponsor each game and she got 10.

Addison Stamp is the young daughter of Josh and Jessica Stamp, Belle Plaine High School graduates, who is battling a debilitating disease.

Belle Plaine High School softball schedule
Date/Opponent
May 26 Keota
May 27 @Tri-County
May 29 @Iowa Valley
June 1 @HLV
June 3 @North Mahaska
June 5 @BGM
June 6 @Oskaloosa Classic
June 8 @Sigourney
June 9 @Vinton-Shellsburg (var. DH)
June 12 @Montezuma
June 13 @Vinton-Shells. Tourn.
June 15 English Valleys (var. DH)
June 17 @Lynnville-Sully (var. DH)
June 19 @Keota
June 20 BP Soph Tourney
June 22 Tri-County
June 23 Iowa Valley
June 24 HLV
June 26 North Mahaska
June 27 @Pekin Tourn.
June 29 BGM
July 1 Sigourney
July 2 Benton JV DH
July 3 @Nevada Invit.
July 6 Montezuma
July 9-11 District
July 14-16 Regional
July 21-25 State

More than half of the 55 members of the Belle Plaine Class of 2009 received at least one scholarship or award this year. Many of the awards were presented at Sunday’s commencement ceremony at the high school, while others were presented at the annual senior awards breakfast earlier in the week.

This year’s class motto was “Life brings us tears, smiles and memories – the tears dry, the smiles fade but the memories last forever.”

The commencement address was a joint effort by the 2009 valedictorian Cameron Wagner and the salutatorian, Colton Wagner.

They produced a video which included best wishes from many members of the faculty and staff of the district.

There were 65 different awards and scholarships presented this year with several presented to more than one senior for a total of 104 awards.

In the following list, the awards and recipients are listed, as well as the monetary amount, where released:

Environmental Education Scholarship – Samantha Behncke
R.J. McElroy Trust Scholarship ($1,000) – Will Pierce
Wendy’s High School Heisman Nomination – Megan Ehlen and Cameron Wagner
Army Reserve National Scholar/Athlete Selection – Cameron Wagner and Katie Walton
KWWL Best of the Class 2009 – Cameron Wagner
Wheaton Franciscan Auxiliary Scholarship ($2,000 each) – Cameron Wagner and Colton Wagner
Mary J. Boland Scholarship ($1,000) – Wes Spading and Beth Purk
East Central Iowa REC Scholarship ($500) – Ben Novak and Paige Lohf
Bernie Saggau Award – Colton Wagner
Grand Lodge of Iowa, AF and A.M. ($2,000) – Colton Wagner
American Legion Post 39 – ($500) – Wes Spading
American Legion Auxiliary ($400) – Beth Purk
Vertis Communications Scholarship ($500) – Katie Walton
National Council on Youth Leadership ($100) – Spencer Roth
Iowa Bowling Council Scholarship ($300) – Kayla Steuart
George M. Sheets Trust Scholarship (approx. $3,000 per semester) – Emily Upah
Henry B. Tippie University of Iowa Scholarship – Emily Upah and Wes Spading
American Bar Association Citizenship Award – Emily Upah
2009 Hixson Opportunity Award for Poweshiek County (one-half of tuition and fee expenses for four years) – Paige Henning
Capri College Scholarship ($250) – Ashlie Fisher
Tama County Farm Bureau Scholarship ($500) – Davis Coover
United States Air Force Math and Science Awards – Cameron Wagner, Colton Wagner and Spencer Roth
Spanish Awards – Samantha Behncke, Katie Blank, Williams Pierce, Beth Purk, Cameron Wagner, Colton Wagner and Eric Ward
Knights of Columbus Scholarship ($400) – Wes Spading, Emily Upah, Spencer Roth
Governor’s Scholar – Cameron Wagner
Zamastil Memorial Scholarship – Katie Walton and Spencer Roth
Christ United Methodist Church Scholarship ($333.33) – Drew Hinschberger, Will Pierce and Paige Lohf
Blairstown Community Foundation Scholarship ($200) – Spencer Roth
Iowa County Cattlemen’s Scholarship – Tate DeMeulenaere
First Congregational Scholarship – Kayla Steuart
Dollars for Scholars ($500) – Spencer Roth, Tyson Squiers, Paul Grieder, Janet Petitt, Myles Kelly, Kristen Bevins and Katie Blank
Athletic Boosters ($250) – Megan Ehlen, Beth Purk, Phillip Stanerson and Katie Walton
Rotary (Kirkwood) ($400) – Katie Walton
Rotary in Memory of Wayne Conrad ($400) – Megan Ehlen
Lions Club ($250) – Rich DeFauw
Women’s Club ($400) – Amber Hohn
H.W. & Alberta Staffenbeal Trust Scholarship ($2,000 each) – Beth Purk and Drew Hinschberger
Jane Sayers UNI Scholarship ($500) – Beth Purk
Music Boosters ($250) – Paige Lohf and Will Pierce
MidWestOne Bank ($500) – Tate DeMeulenaere
Ruritan – Ben Novak
BPEA ($400) – Megan Ehlen, Drew Hinschberger, Tyson Squiers, Collin Walton and Amber Hohn
Donovan Scholarship ($3,000 renewable) – Samantha Behncke and Davis Coover
Clare M. Allee Memorial Scholarship – Colton Wagner, Cameron Wagner, Paige Henning, Samantha Behncke, Spencer Roth and Emily Upah
Belle Plaine Ambulance Scholarship ($300) – Katie Walton
Coe College Trustee Scholarship – Spencer Roth
Coe College Academic Enhancement Scholarship/Science – Spencer Roth
Coe College Writing Center Fellowship – Spencer Roth
Ernest Hayden & Harriet Thomas Memorial Scholarship at ISU – Paige Henning
Florence V. Ritchie Scholarship at ISU – Paige Henning
CHS Incoming Freshman Merit Scholarship at ISU – Paige Henning
Drake University Presidential Scholar – Amber Hohn
Drake University Fine Arts Scholarship for Music – Amber Hohn
UNI Distinguished Scholars – Beth Purk
Coe College Dean’s Scholarship – Megan Ehlen
Crimson Award – Megan Ehlen
Legacy Scholarship – Megan Ehlen
Iowa State University Future of Agriculture & Life Sciences Scholarship – Samantha Behncke
Cornell College Academic and Community Enrichment Scholarship – Myles Kelly
Kirkwood Leaders for Tomorrow Scholarship – Collin Walton
Wartburg College Regents Scholarship – Cameron Wagner and Colton Wagner
Wartburg College Legacy Grant – Cameron Wagner and Colton Wagner

Belle Plaine’s band students from 5th grade through high school gave their final performance of the year earlier this week. Here is a selection of photos from the event.