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Comets to swing through bumps and bruises
(by Tony Lange - March 21, 2012)
Comets to swing through bumps and bruises
By TONY LANGE
Young guns may bring talent to the lineup, but a lack of varsity experience also may bring inconsistencies the Lady Comets' way early in their softball season.
After finishing 12-10 last season, Solon graduated six players, three of them four-year letter winners and three others with three varsity letters.
This preseason has been quite a feeling-out process, head coach LeAnn Fonner said.
"It's been a lot of basically seeing what I have to work with and figuring out who can play what and who is going to better suit us in certain positions," she said. "We're still figuring out who our starting pitcher is going to be. I think we have two kids who are capable of throwing varsity innings, but it's still up in the air if one of them will be the ace. If you have an ace, you pretty much just go with that. I'm not sure if we have an ace right now."
An ace during the last three seasons was Dani Zysek, who had a 12-7 record for the Comets last season as she pitched her way through doubleheaders and was Solon's leadoff hitter.
Solon's most solid returner this season is sophomore Kristen Confroy, Fonner said.
"If you follow Solon athletics, then you know the name already," she said of Confroy, who also plays varsity basketball and soccer for the Comets. "I already have Division I softball coaches calling me about her. Her love is basketball, but she definitely is capable of having a Division I college softball career."
Confroy will start at shortstop and fill Zysek's vacancy as the leadoff hitter for the Comets, Fonner said.
Another returner is first-team All-Northeast Ohio Conference honoree Carli Simecek, a junior. She played first base last year and batted .373, but she will move to catcher this season and take over the gap left by four-year letter winner Leah Archer, Fonner said.
"Obviously, you're only as good as your middle is, so we're going to put her behind the plate this year and look for her to really keep base runners at the bag," Fonner said. "I would be surprised if people try to steal on her. She's got a great arm, and she's very agile. I look forward to seeing what she can do behind the plate this year."
Also returning is Emily Maxson, who will be the Comets' senior leader this season, Fonner said.
"Emily is sort of that utility kid," she said. "She's going to end up playing where the other younger kids cannot. She would be my best first baseman, my best third baseman and my top two outfielders and one of my better second basemen. She's going to end up playing where nobody else can."
Solon's fourth player returning with varsity experience is junior Gabby Lucarelli.
"She was a solid .300 hitter last year at the varsity level, which is good, because we were playing top-level competition last year with a beefed-up schedule, so she was batting against legit pitching," Fonner said. "She's one of the two pitchers this year."
Maxson's younger sister, freshman Emily Maxson, also is in the running for a pitching spot, Fonner said.
Another standout freshman is Natalia Kontul, who is in the running to play second base and bat somewhere in the top five of the order, Fonner said.
While the Lady Comets have a lot of unknowns with several talented freshmen and sophomores, Fonner said she thinks Solon is going to have a stronger one-through-nine batting order this year.
"We're going to take a lot of bumps and bruises here early on, but I think that's what you get anytime you've got seven newcomers playing significant amounts of varsity time," she said. "But I think it's going to be a fun ride, and I'm excited to see where we end up by the end of the season."
Solon opens its season at 11 a.m. March 24 for a doubleheader at Kenston.
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