Skilled Glacier learning to win
As an assistant football coach last fall, Joel Bemis spent Friday nights watching Glacier's young, diminutive defensive linemen become engulfed by Class AA's behemoths.
And though the Wolfpack's 0-3 nonconference softball start featured lopsided losses to defending state champions Great Fall C.M. Russell and Polson, Bemis knows Glacier's first season on the diamond won't be the grind he witnessed on the gridiron.
"It is easier in softball because it's not the phyiscal pounding," Bemis said. "With us, it's the mental part, getting reps.
"My assistant coaches work their hind ends off at practice. We want to squeeze every last drop out of every minute we have at practice to get better."
The Wolfpack already has made remarkable strides since allowing 10 runs in the first innings of its season opener. But for a team with no seniors and just three juniors on varsity, even progress can be erratic.
"Physically, this is a talented group of girls," Bemis said. "This is my 12th year coaching softball, and I don't think I've seen a sophomore-freshmen class with this much talent overall.
"Now, it's just developing the mental toughness to go out and execute every time - not letting one error turn into two or three. We have to play defense, and if we can do that, we're going to compete."
Exhibit A: Glacier raced to a 3-1 lead against Great Falls High on Saturday, but committed three errors over the last four innings of a 9-5 loss.
Freshman pitcher Jesse Compton went the distance against Great Falls, racking up 12 strikeouts. Glacier will count on her to carry the load from the circle.
Compton's battery mates will be freshman Brittany Franklin and sophomore Lindsey Hoffenbacker. Hoffenbacker will see most of her time at second base, where Franklin also will play when she's not behind the plate.
"She's come in as a pretty decent catcher as a ninth-grader," Bemis said of Franklin. "She has a good relationship with our pitchers, and she does a pretty good job with umpires, too, for being a young kid."
Sophomore Abby Connolly will man first base, along with junior Taylor Albright.
Freshman third baseman Sabrina Kenfield already is a force at the hot corner.
"Sabrina has an absolute cannon for an arm," Bemis said. "She can flat throw the ball hard.
"The big thing with her is learning how to control it, but she's going to be a good one there."
An experienced third baseman and catcher, speedy junior Brittney Brown anchors the infield at shortstop.
"She's one of our good junior leaders," Bemis said. "We asked her to make the move to shortstop, and she's been such a good team player. She said, 'You bet.'"
Albright and versatile freshman Megan Connolly will platoon in right field. Connolly will start at second base today when Glacier begins Western AA play at Missoula Sentinel and Big Sky.
Junior Kristen Storle gets the nod in left field with sophomore Zoey Pettit in center.
"Gosh, she's fast," Bemis said of Pettit. "She's a good outfielder. She'll be a good center fielder because she can cover so much ground, and she's only a sophomore."
Glacier's program got off to a promising start when several players showed up for indoor workouts just after winter break. About 35 athletes came to tryouts, hinting at the Wolfpack's future depth and potential.
"Initially, we want to win five games," Bemis said. "We've looked at all the other programs in the school and seen how they've competed, and they've done a great job. I've taken a lot of stuff from (head football coach Grady Bennett).
"I've told the girls, success is not necessarily in the win and loss columns. We've got to find success as it comes along, and sometimes it's in those little things that we do."