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

It was postponed by a week due to bad weather, but the wait was well worth it for Belle Plaine elementary students who enjoyed a day of physical activity earlier this week at the annual Olympic Day at the high school.

Students in grades kindergarten through sixth celebrated the upcoming end of the school year with a variety of activities including sack races, long jump, football and softball throw, tug-o-war, races around the track and other events.