District Triumph Highlights
2007 NHS Softball Season
During a roller-coaster season, the members of the 2007 Newkirk
High School fast-pitch softball team played the most games in
program history. And the Lady Tigers produced a defining moment
along the way.
While consistency eluded them until the latter stages of the
season, the Lady Tigers elevated their level of play and showed
their mettle when it counted the most the arrival of postseason
play. They toted a sub-.500 record into the District Tournament,
which featured an arduous assignment at Tonkawa, but Newkirk's
girls rallied together to knock off the Lady Buccaneers with
a 3-2, 3-0 sweep to win the program's first playoff hardware
in five years.
After a 1-2 showing the following week at the Regional Tournament,
the Lady Tigers finished the season with an 18-18 record, including
a 3-2 postseason mark (thanks to an 11-1 win over Hennessey in
Regional play to somewhat offset two losses to Watonga by 2-0
and 2-1 margins), a 4-5 record at home, a 3-3 mark in true road
games, and 10-9 faring in tourney settings. They finished 5-5
in games decided by one run or extra innings. NHS never won more
than three games in a row but never lost more than three straight
either.
In the playoffs, the team embraced a saying by former profession
baseball great Babe Ruth: "It's hard to beat a person who
never gives up." And following the leadership of their five
seniors Amy Billings, Audrey Johnston, Lauren Leven, Taylor
Smith, and Taylor Voegele, the Lady Tigers proved the assertion
by playing with extra passion.
Reflecting on the season, third-year NHS Head Coach Brad Larimer
assessed, "We kind of started out a little slow, even though
we actually started earlier than we have in past years. We lost
that first game (at Tonkawa by a 4-1 score), but we found out
Tonkawa was pretty good... We were below .500 there for a little
while, then we would catch up, then we would dip back under.
And sometimes, it's who you play, and I felt like the schedule
was pretty tough this year. We did a pretty-good job of getting
through that thing. Sometimes that helps you in the playoffs
when you have a tougher schedule, so sometimes a record doesn't
indicate how good you are, but we still won as many games as
we have in the past."
The coach added, "I thought the girls played excellent at
times, especially defensively. When we hit the ball, we did a
great job. And when we did hit the ball, we won those games,
generally. I thought the girls ran well. ... All in all, I thought
the season went real well. We sucked it up and got after it when
we needed to."
Over the course of the 36-game campaign, the Lady Tigers compiled
a .246 team batting average. For the season, they outscored the
opposition, 149-123.
Johnston, a right-handed pitcher, toiled 203 innings inside the
circle and compiled a 5:1 strike-outs to walk ratio. She fanned
135 batters while allowing just 28 walks. And Johnston hit .386
(17-for-44) over the final month of the season to propel her
final average into the team leaders at .277.
Junior catcher Lacie Dummer teamed with Johnston to form the
battery all season and turned in countless key defensive plays,
including the catalyst for a triple play at the District Tournament
in Tonkawa, plus Dummer also produced the best batting average
on the team (.306) and a team-high 21 RBIs. Voegele delivered
strong play at shortstop and led NHS in hits (34) and runs scored
(23) while raising her batting average more than 100 points from
her junior year to finish with a .293 mark. Megan Schieber made
her presence known as a freshman, collecting 28 hits for a .286
average.
"I thought there were some good bright spots," Larimer
stated. "We had a girl (Voegele) make All-Conference (in
the Northern Oklahoma Softball Conference), and we have some
pretty-good teams in our conference, so I thought that was pretty
special. ... And to go over there (to the NOSC All-Star Game
in Blackwell) with the other girls that got to play Johnston
and Leven and doing what they did with their timely hits
and RBIs, that just goes to show that our program was well-represented
by those three girls. And the girls had a good time in that game."
However, they produced much as a unit for NHS as well. For the
second straight season, the Lady Tigers found their groove at
the Perry Tourney, going 5-2 with their only losses to a strong
Bethany squad that eventually claimed the tourney title.
And a return trip to Perry a week and a half later resulted in
additional thrills. On August 20, Perry's Lady Maroons came to
Newkirk and stormed past the Lady Tigers to a one-sided win,
but on August 28, the Lady Tigers gained redemption with a 1-0
triumph.
"It was a really good win, especially after losing to Perry
11-0 up at our place," Larimer issued. "After that,
I think we played pretty well, so I think that was kind of a
wake-up call for us. To go down there the next week and beat
them 1-0, the girls were ready to play. And most of the teams
we lost to, we came back and got, with the exception of Pawnee,
but it was an extra-inning game (in the rematch of a one-run
loss), and we were pretty compatible with them. So I think we're
getting more respect each year from the way we're playing and
who we're playing."
He continued, "There were times when we played really well.
I felt like that was something we could have accomplished is
going to the State Tournament, if the ball would have bounced
the right way at the right times."
The Lady Tigers notched season sweeps of Alva and Pond Creek-Hunter
and with their 5-4 victory on Senior Night and the conquest at
the Class 2A District Tourney, they took the season series from
Tonkawa to keep a 26-23 edge in the all-time series. The Lady
Tigers' focus for the District pairing impressed Larimer, who
declared, "When we were playing Tonkawa (in the District
Tournament), you could tell that the intensity was there, and
we were going to accomplish what we needed to accomplish, and
we did."
Throughout the seven-week season, Larimer observed many gain
in his team, offering, "We've always been a pretty-good
defensive team, but we're trying to get our hitting to be a little
more productive, and we're trying to change some things. ...
We're going to get there."
He added, "I think the girls are really trying hard to be
that State Tournament type team. Each year, we get more and more
that way. Just like getting through the Districts this year.
Our leadership was real, real good."
Several players morphed into larger roles, and many former reserves
gained starting assignments and thrived. Dummer provided a prime
example. She didn't have a hit during varsity play as a sophomore
but erupted for 33 as a junior. And the triple play she started
with a diving grab in the District opener secured a hard-fought
win and kept the Lady Tigers progressing toward their goal.
Larimer described, "Lacie Dummer improved as much as anybody.
She went from backing up a little bit the year before and maybe
hitting a little bit to a starting role at catcher, and that's
a difficult position, but she did a great job. She became a good
catcher, and she was sitting in an RBI slot in the three-hole
and did a great job. She led us in RBIs. I thought she did a
wonderful job."
Larimer lauded Voegele's drastic improvement as well, underscoring,
"Taylor Voegele stepped it up from last year, too. I mean,
I thought she was good last year, but she was really good this
year."
And Newkirk's coach was extremely pleased with the outfield play
and the way the trio of Leven in left field and juniors Meeka
Gentry (center) and Ashley Tavanello (right) tracked down fly
balls. All three also hit well for the Lady Tigers with Tavanello
contributing a .261 average, Gentry adding a .250 mark with a
team-high 16 stolen bases, and Leven hitting .232 with 13 RBIs.
"In the outfield, Lauren Leven has been so steady for us,"
Larimer lauded. "She played center (as a sophomore) and
left field the last two years and really held that position real
well. I thought she improved in going to get the ball better
than anybody, her and Meeka (Gentry) both. ... I thought they
improved 100% over the course of the last couple of years. And
of course, Meeka will be coming back next year, and she's a great
center-fielder. She does a great job out there. And Tavanello
is pretty steady in right field. She does a good job of fielding
and getting up and throwing, and she stepped up her bat. I moved
her up toward the top of the lineup because she bunts well, she
does what she needs to, and she's a team player."
Johnston tossed a perfect game this season, beating Blackwell
JV 8-0, and she teamed with freshman Lacey McCombs for another
in a 5-0 win over PC-H. Johnston finished her career with a 35-35
record for second place on the program's list for all-time pitching
victories.
Larimer emphasized, "Of course, Audrey (Johnston) has been
great for us pitching. The last two years, she's been our workhorse,
and she lost some close games that if we had anything supporting
her, she would have won. She's had one-hitters that we've lost."
And one of the youngest members of the team also made a distinct
impression on her coach. Larimer proclaimed, "I thought
Megan Schieber did a good job as a freshman stepping in and playing
a good first base. She hit the ball as good as anybody, especially
late in the year. I think her technique and form of hitting is
as good as anybody we've got, so we look for big things from
her in the next three years."
Just as Dummer filled a void at catcher, Billings developed into
a key performer at second base. Larimer detailed, "I thought
Amy Billings really improved from day one to the last day. She
was making some big plays."
Billings, a move-in after her junior season of softball was complete,
joined Johnston, Leven, Smith, and Voegele to comprise a formidable
senior class. "I thought our seniors were awesome,"
Larimer expressed. "You look for seniors that are going
to be leaders that don't just yap at the other kids, but they
bring them along and they're nice to them and they reinforce
anything that I tell them. They were just great, positive images
for all the younger kids. ... They're just great role models
and great leaders for us."
Newkirk's coach elaborated, "I think we're really going
to miss those seniors that we had this year with the leadership,
but I think that with the juniors that we have coming back, we'll
have the same type of roles next year with Lacie (Dummer), Meeka
(Gentry), and Tavanello, Briana Luis, and the Peters twins (Katelyn
and Leah). They're going to fill in just fine, and I don't think
we'll lose a beat."
In looking ahead to the next season, Larimer is upbeat about
the direction of the program. He likes the nucleus of the team
coming back in the group of returning starters Dummer, Kayla
Finuf, Gentry, Schieber, and Tavanello. Plus, the coach promoted,
"Lacey McCombs pitched a couple of games for us, and I think
she's just going to improve and get better and better. And we
have (Ashlee) Peters, (Katelyn) Peters, and (Leah) Peters. They
did all the running for us for our pitcher, catcher, and whatever,
and with their speed, I think they're going to step in and do
real well for us next year. They're going to have to fill some
roles that we will lose. And I think we have a few eighth-grade
players that are going to step up and do okay, and we also have
some freshmen that are already in the program that I think are
going to develop into pretty-good players."
Larimer finished by summing up, "I felt like it was a pretty
successful season. We did real well, and it's something we can
build on."
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