(Greenfield) The Nodaway Valley softball team opens the season Tuesday night against Greene County.
The Wolverines have just 11 players on the roster this season. Head coach Abbey Queck says a shift to morning practices has been beneficial. “We’ve been pretty fortunate to go in the mornings. We’ve been having a lot more team practices than we normally do.” Queck says, “We have a lot of new faces this year and people in different spots. We only have 11 girls out this season, but I think a lot of good things will happen.”
Furthermore, with a smaller roster they have more time for individual instruction. “It’s pretty awesome to have such individualized time with them. I feel like we can pinpoint things that we struggled with last year. With younger girls we have a lot to teach them. The upperclassmen are doing an awesome job of showing them the ropes and getting them on the right track.”
Maddax DeVault and Whitney Lamb are the team’s two seniors. Jorja Holliday and Lindsey Davis are the two other returning starters. “Maddax DeVault at shortstop. She is our leadoff batter. She’s solid at shortstop. We have both of our pitchers returning. Jorja Holliday and Whitney Lamb. They are both fantastic. They are pretty great. They can flip flop from first base to pitcher and help us out there. Then we have Lindsey Davis behind the plate who is solid all around. A great, great hitter and a great catcher as well. Those are about the only ones we have that are returning from last year.”
The team won 15 games a year ago. Lindsey Davis hit .411 with two home runs and 27 RBI. Maddax DeVault hit .345 with a couple of homers and 22 runs driven in. Jorja Holliday was 13-6 in the circle with a 2.60 ERA and 129 strikeouts. Multiple 8th graders and freshmen will be relied upon in a varsity role. “Izzy Eisbach is an 8th grader and has done a fantastic job. We look for her to play a couple different roles. Maddie Weston did a little bit of right field for us last year. She has stepped up a lot. Olivia Laughery has had a phenomenal sports season in all the sports she has done as a freshman. She has done a nice job of playing in the infield and outfield in practices. There are so many others that I think are going to have to step up and I think that they will.”
The opening week schedule for the Wolverines includes a home date with Greene County on Tuesday, they host Shenandoah on Wednesday, followed by games against SW Valley and Wayne later in the week.
Nodaway Valley coach Abbey Queck:
