Practice underway for Craig girls softball
Schedule
Craig’s schedule, with home games at Dawson Field:
(4:30 p.m. unless indicated)
MARCH: 27—At Fort Atkinson, 4 p.m.; 31—Waunakee.
APRIL: 2—Sun Prairie, 4:30 ; 4—Fort Atkinson and Milton, TBA; 7—Beloit Memorial; 9—At Madison La Follette; 13—Madison Memorial; 15—At Middleton; 17—Janesville Parker; 21—At Madison East; 23—Madison West; 25—At Verona (DH), 10 a.m.; 28—At Sun Prairie; 30—At Beloit Memorial.
MAY: 5—Madison La Follette, 4 p.m.; 8—At Madison Memorial, 5 p.m.; 12—Middleton, 4 p.m.; 15—At Janesville Parker, 4 p.m.; 19—Madison East, 4 p.m.; 21—At Madison West, 4 p.m.
JANESVILLE — Janesville Craig High School’s girls softball team will be a work in progress.
The Cougars lost five starters to graduation, including first-team All-Big Eight Conference first baseman Abby Geiger.
But coach Dan Bayreuther thinks the Cougars will be good enough to compete with anybody in the Big Eight, including perennial powerhouse Verona.
“We’re going to be green,” Bayreuther said. “We’ll have three new infielders and two new outfielders, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.
“But in the week and a half that we’ve been practicing, I really like what I’ve seen. The girls are working hard, and we’ve got a chance to be a pretty good team by the end of the year.”
And the Cougars aren’t without experience. They return three all-conference performers, including first-team catcher Gabrielle Cassady. The junior hit .452 a year ago, scored 26 runs and finished with a .726 slugging percentage.
“I told her she’s going to have to be our leader this year,” Bayreuther said of Cassady. “She’s got to take control of the infield and handle a pretty young pitching staff.”
The pitching staff will be by committee to start the season. Bailie Whitaker went 6-3 a year ago with a 3.95 ERA. The sophomore will log innings along with senior Audrey Freeman and sophomore Paige Owens.
Senior Jillynn Mortensen is the lone returning starter in the outfield. The four-year varsity player was All-Big Eight honorable mention last year and will move to center field this season. Mortensen hit .311 a year ago, with 19 runs scored.
“Jillynn knows what’s expected and has the most varsity experience of anyone on the team,” Bayreuther said. “I think she’ll have a solid senior season.”
Joining Mortensen in the outfield will be senior Chelsea Smith, junior Kelly Moench and sophomore Taylor Wildes.
The infield has talent, but not a lot of varsity experience. Freshman Haley Bayreuther, the coach’s daughter, will start at short. Junior Whitney Oliver is expected to open at second base, while senior Katelyn Shere is a likely starter at first base.
Abby Sullivan will back up Shere, and Freeman, an honorable mention all-conference pick a year ago, can play anywhere in the infield when she’s not pitching. Freeman batted .320 a year ago.
Sophomore Erica Mortensen and junior Lindsey Oliver are battling for the starting spot at third base.
Coach Bayreuther thinks the Big Eight will be tough from top to bottom, especially with Verona making its debut.
“We play Verona in a doubleheader (April 25), and I’m really excited about that,” Bayreuther said. “I like to play against the best because you want to see if you can play with those teams. They’ve been to eight straight state tournaments.
“And it seems like every other team has an all-conference player or two coming back.”
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