Tradition never graduates.
Many athletic teams use those three words from high school level to professional level. It would be hard-pressed for anyone to deny this slogan is worn well by Lynnville-Sully’s Hawk softball program.
With a very young pitching staff a year ago, the Hawks finished 16-17 overall. They lost to fellow South Iowa Cedar League team Colfax-Mingo in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal game.
Lynnville-Sully went 9-4 in the SICL to finish fourth. Colfax-Mingo Tigerhawks were the 2016 SICL champions at 11-2.
As the 2017 season gets underway Monday, the Hawks host the Tigerhawks in a SICL matchup in Sully.
“The conference is very strong this year. We should compete for the top positions with a very competitive squad with experience and youth,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Stacey Alberts, who enters her 12 season guiding the Hawks with a 250-126 coaching record.
Alberts along with her assistant coaches Scott Alberts, Tracy Conn and Becca Vos bring consistency to the Hawk softball program. That consistency rubs off on the players as they begin in the program as eighth-graders and move up the ranks to being seniors.
Lynnville-Sully have two strong senior leaders in team captains Brenna Lanser and Haley James. The other senior on the team is Cheyanne Nikkle.
Lanser is a two-time all-state infielder. She earned Iowa Girls Coaches Association district and all-state honors last year as the Hawks third-baseman. She is also a two-time SICL first-team selection.
Lanser led the team with seven home runs, tying for seventh in Class 1A. She had 47 RBIs, which was ninth in 1A, with a .458 batting average and a .794 slugging average.
Lanser had 49 hits, nine doubles and three triples. She had a .794 slugging average. She also was 11-of-11 on stolen base attempts. James played center field for the Hawks last year. She hit. 204 with 11 hits.
Sophomore Carson Fisk was Lynnville-Sully’s leading pitcher a year ago, finishing with a 13-11 record. She pitched 134 1/3 innings, striking out 47 batters, issuing 34 walks and allowing 190 hits.
Freshman Mallory Loftus threw 52 1/3 innings for a 1-2 record. She struck out 25 batters. Both Fisk and Loftus playing in the infield when not in the pitching circle.
Loftus hit .305, which was third on the team, with 29 hits. She drove in 15 runs and scored 27. Fisk went .266 at the plate with 25 hits, 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Junior McKinley Conover saw some pitching duty also. She played outfield and batted .275 a year ago. Sophomore Shiloh Cunningham is an outfielder and infielder. She hit .263 last year and was 11-of-11 on stolen base attempts.
Look for Nikkle, junior Taylor Maasdam and sophomores Shalea Van Wyk and Kaylee Maasdam to step into varsity roles. Freshmen on the team are Kaleah Ehresman, Abby Gruver, McKenzie Lanser, Janelle Rozendaal and Ashton Thompson. The team has two eighth-graders on the roster — Korinne Jansen and Caitlin Alberts.
“We have a hard-working, athletic group of girls. They bring positive attitudes to practices and we have team unity,” Alberts said.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com