The Perry softball team had its share of detractors last summer.
The team was just 5-9 in the (albeit loaded) Raccoon River Conference, and had feasted largely, the naysayers pointed out, on weaker competition, especially at weekend tournaments.
They couldn’t win when it mattered, the trolls said. The better teams are too good for them, declared others.
Then came the postseason, where the Jayettes shut the naysayers up in impressive fashion. A statement win at Norwalk was followed by ending DC-G’s three-year title run and five-year state tourney streak with a 3-0 win.
Perry finished sixth overall, and with only two starters to replace, appear set to challenge for a return to the Class 4A State Tournament.
“First things first,” head coach Tina Kenney warned. “Are we good enough to do it? You bet we are. But one thing we know for sure is how hard it is to make it state, and now everybody will be gunning for us.”
“However, that is what we have been working so hard for,” she added. “We want to be that team nobody wants to play, to be the team everyone is coming after. Last year gave us the experience to know what it takes to win. In the past instead of having to try to find a way to beat us the really good teams would wait for us to fall apart, and that didn’t happen last year and I don’t think it will this year, either.”
It all starts with the right arm of K Queen Emma Olejniczak, who will enter her senior season with 878 career strikeouts. The UNI-bound hurler fanned 315 last season, an average of 1.4 per inning.
Olejniczak is hittable — opponents batted .158 — and her ERA of 1.46 reveals runs can be had, but those are thin numbers, and when the senior is on she is all but untouchable.
“Obviously we have to have Emma healthy,” Kenney said. “There is always an element of luck — you have to avoid injuries anywhere, not just the pitcher — but I sure wouldn’t have to face her in a big moment.”
Senior Brooke Huntington returns behind the plate, giving Olejniczak a sure target and solid backstop. Maddie West will be back at first base, with the battle to replace Maddy Jans at third base currently up for grabs between T.J. Sheehy and Adriana Eastman.
The Jayettes are as talented as anyone up the middle, with juniors Jo Diw at shortstop, Sid Vancil at second base and Alyssa Kruger in center field. Rachel Kinney returns in right, with Gabby West and Grace Stewart the leading contenders to step in for Victoria Hegstrom in left field.
Kruger and Kinney were nearly perfect last year, committing one error against 59 combined putouts, with Kinney possessing an arm opponents have learned not to challenge.
Diw hit ,477 with six home runs and 31 RBIs while Kinney hit .438 with five homers and 35 RBIs, Vancil .318 with 39 RBIs and Kruger .345 with 35 RBIs. All had double-digits in doubles and were a combined 44-of-49 stealing bases and drew a combined 47 walks while striking out a total of 45 times — a solid number of strikeouts considering the power numbers produced.
The RRC will once again be the toughest league in 4A, as it has been for at least a decade, but opportunities exist for Perry, as state runner-up Carlisle, ADM and Boone must find new starting pitchers. Winterset loses six starting seniors, their main ace included, but will still be tough, Kenney said.
“The Carlisle’s, the Winterset’s — they are always going to be good,” Kenney said. “But our girls believe in themselves and believe they deserve to be mentioned in that conversation.”
Perry opens their season tonight with a visit from Des Moines Christian. The Jayettes visit North Polk Tuesday and Winterset Wednesday before hosting Norwalk Friday, a series of solid tests to start the 2017 campaign.
“We have had players missing for other sports, so like most years it might take few weeks before we start to find our rhythm,” she added. “The big key is that we know if we play hard for every out and make every at-bat matter that we can do big things. If we remember that no one is going to give it to us, and add that knowledge to our confidence, we can have another special year.”
