H-M-S softball preview: A great shot to move up the standings

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn may have a relatively young softball team, but it is far from inexperienced. All but one starter returns from the 2022 squad that finished with the program's best record [10-15] since 2017.

Three seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores, four freshmen and an eighth grader are on the roster. Returners who earned postseason recognition last year are sophomore Gracie Knobloch, first team all-War Eagle Conference and Class 2A all-state second team; and senior Cadence Klein, honorable mention all-conference.

Having a full squad for preseason practices was challenging because of the overlap of spring and summer sports. But Hawk coach Stephanie Bronstad sees progress in key areas.

"The ones we have had every day have taken the opportunity to work on individual skills that want to improve. The days we do have everyone we focused on a lot of hitting and live pitching," she said.

Putting together a lineup has been about positioning players. The only 2022 senior lost to graduation was catcher Bailey VerHelst.

"We have a few ideas of who will fill her spot behind the plate which might require filling a different spot on the field, but we are happy with the athletes we have to do the job," Bronstad noted. "They all worked hard in the offseason to help close the gap on filling that spot."

Determining a defensive lineup will depend on who is in the pitcher's circle.

"Right now we have a few different lineups that we are trying and feel very confident about. It will all come down to who is on the mound as to where a few others are on the field," Bronstad said.

Knobloch and sophomore Kamryn Ebel pitched the most innings last year, and they are expected to do so in 2023. Knobloch started 14 games and recorded 96 strikeouts, while Ebel had 10 starts and pitched a total of 55.2 innings.

Senior Abby Kunzman and junior Kinsey Schirmer are expected to also contribute in the pitcher's circle.

"They each bring a different style to the mound as far as pitches and speed," Bronstad noted. "We plan to use this to our advantage depending on who our opponent is that night."

Overall, the Hawks have several strengths and have areas on which they can improve.

"We are hoping with the work we did in the offseason that our hitting will be our strong suit. Our defense last year was solid but we dropped some games with our hitting so we are looking for that to turn around," she said. "Our pitchers and catchers have worked hard through the winter to dial in on accuracy."

Knobloch finished last season with a .548 batting average and 34 hits, including nine doubles and three triples. Junior Delaney Murphy had a .385 average, sophomore Eliza Tewes hit .359 and Schirmer hit .324. Klein was fourth on the squad with 22 hits.

Bronstad did not mention specific teams that could compete for the War Eagle Conference title but feels H-M-S can improve on its eighth place finish in 2022.

"Looking at the conference and the teams, I feel we have a great shot at climbing in the conference standings this summer," she said.

Hinton won the conference title but graduated six all-WEC selections while all of runner-up Remsen St. Mary's all-conference picks were underclassmen.

The Hawks have one main priority for the season.

"Communication has been our biggest goal for the team this year, on and off the field," Bronstad noted.