Northeast Nodaway’s girls are looking to rebound in 2020, as they have nowhere to go but up, having gone winless last year. Vance Proffitt is at the helm, having turned the baseball team into a powerhouse over the last eight years. Now, he will try to do the same for the girls softball team. He has the credibility to do so, having won conference the last seven times with baseball, and having won districts twice in a row before COVID wiped out this year’s season.
Proffitt has built several teams from scratch over the years. At North Nodaway, he built the girls basketball team to respectability, laying the groundwork for Doug Freemyer and Sami Jackson to win consistently there. At NEN, he took a girls basketball team that had not won in junior high to a .500 squad before taking the boys basketball team from three wins to 17.
Proffitt is assisted this year by Jared Freemyer, who has built up the junior high squads to respectability, and who will bring a lot of knowledge of the game. He will give the junior high squad some continuity when they advance to the varsity level.
Anne Schieber returns to the mound for the Bluejays; she was a bright spot for the squad last year, being one of the leading hitters on the team and always locating the ball around the plate from the mound. Delaney McIntyre will move behind the plate, a position she played in junior high and that she is used to. Freshman Jill Boswell can also catch if needed.
Cassy Redden or Kami Adwell will play first. The communication on the field, one of the things a team in any sport can control, is as different as night and day this year, and Redden is one of the reasons why. Adwell has shown some pop in her bat in the past, and showed a lot of range at first.
Meredith Adwell seemed to have the second base spot locked up Wednesday evening in practice. She has become a lot more confident fielding the ball, as well as throwing. Jaden Atkins seems to have the shortstop position locked down, fielding everything hit at her cleanly. Kirsten Morrow or Jill Boswell took turns playing third, and Kirsten can play in the outfield as well if needed.
In center field Wednesday was Victoria Moran. She showed a lot more range this year, backing up anything that got by one of the other two outfielders. Rachelle Rodriguez, who showed a lot of improvement with her bat last year as the season progressed, took turns in left with Maribeth Lamb; Rodriguez made a nice running catch Wednesday. Ruby Wilmes looked to have the right field spot locked down; she will provide speed on the basepaths.
Proffitt said that all of the teams in the Highway 275 Conference will be tough; last year was a dogfight, with everybody capable of beating everybody else. DeKalb finally emerged on top. He said that his goal was to keep the team loose and working hard this year, along with having some fun.
The junior high squad figures to improve if they can get a season in; they only have nine players out, and the varsity only has one freshman that can drop down. The ones they have out are pretty good; they return a lot of experience from last year. Jared Freemyer will head up the squad again this year; Tiffany McGinness will assist.
Hadley DeFreece will return to the mound, and Baylee Busby will be behind the plate again. Lindsey Jackson can pitch as well, and can play anywhere else Coach Freemyer needs her to. Busby, Jackson, Hadley DeFreece, and Miley Wilmes all impressed in the batting cage, while Sasha Deardorff impressed on the field with a great running catch. McKenzie Pride grew a lot since last year, and has the potential to show a lot with both her bat and glove.
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