Le Mars softball opens their season tonight at home against Sioux City North. The Bulldogs will look to improve on a season that saw them finish 2nd in the MRAC and end up losing to Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the regional semifinals. That team will look similar to this team with the Bulldogs graduating only three seniors from last year’s team. Head Coach Keely Steffen says that she has seen plenty of positives in the first few weeks of practice.
The Bulldogs have now had three seasons with a lot of similar pieces contributing in big ways for the Bulldogs. That provides valuable softball knowledge and provides some very valuable cohesion with the coaching staff and those players.
While the Bulldogs will not have much to replace in the field, the big change will come in the circle. The Bulldogs graduate Alivia Milbrodt who was a 2nd Team All-MRAC pitcher during her senior season. While the Bulldogs still have the arm of Lizzie Koonce, Coach Steffen says that #2 spot and on down is still up for grabs.
At the plate, the Bulldogs hope to be an offense that can produce in many different ways all the way up and down the lineup. Coach Steffen says this has allowed her team to work on some new things at the plate to try and become more and more dangerous offensively.
This season is the third and final season for Coach Steffen as the head coach of Le Mars softball. She says she hopes her team learns valuable lessons aside from softball that they can use to become great people.
The Bulldogs open their season tonight at Sioux City North. KLEM Radio will broadcast the doubleheader starting at 5:20 with pregame coverage.
