LA CROSSE — The La Crosse Steam haven’t succeeded to the extent they desire in terms of wins and losses over the past couple of weeks, and that’s been difficult for the competitive nature of coach Brandi Alonzo and her players.
They are all competitive by nature, and they take the field to win whenever they play.
Don’t expect that to change because the progress that Alonzo has seen could change all of that at any moment.
But the truth is that Northwoods League softball has player development at its core, and that is what needs to be emphasized.
La Crosse takes a 2-8 record into Friday night’s home game against Wausau, but Alonzo and her players believe things will be turned around.
“I think right now we feel like we’re on the struggle bus a little bit,” Saint Mary’s shortstop Abbie Stigler said. “I also feel like we had a really good talk at practice and realized that we’re here to play and don’t have to be perfect all the time.
“Honestly, I feel like we’re in a good spot and once we just let go and play, we’ll have a lot of fun.”
The Steam have had little trouble hitting the ball and are batting a collective .323 and averaging 6.7 runs per game. They have 24 doubles, 5 triples and 4 home runs and have stolen 13 bases in 14 attempts.
La Crosse has three players batting .400 or better and is being led by St. Cloud State second baseman Grace Frechette and her .441 average. She also leads the Steam doubles (6) and runs scored (14).
Tennessee-Martin catcher Avary Makarewicz is batting .438 and leads the team in both home runs (4) and RBIs (21), and Stigler bats .400 with 3 doubles, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.
“We’re doing a good job of scoring runs, getting people on base,” Alonzo said. “We’re moving runners over, getting clutch hits and having really good at-bats.”
Pitching and defense have been another story, and Alonzo said hard work is being done in both phases.
The Steam have made 29 errors, and their pitchers have produced a team ERA of 10.44 with 24 strikeouts and 42 walks over 63 innings.
Tennessee-Martin’s Elly Eckrich leads the team with 27 1/3 innings pitched with two complete games, and she has an ERA of 6.91 to go with a 1-3 record. Her spring season included 15 innings over 11 relief appearances and 9 strikeouts.
“I think our pitchers are very smart,” Alonzo said. “They are adjusting with what didn’t work and looking at ways to be more effective and give our defense an opportunity to make plays.”
Improvement on the pitching and defensive sides will give the Steam a better chance to win games and add to the enjoyment of developing for their college programs.
“All of us are here to get better,” said Stigler, who played 51 games and batted .383 with 2 home runs, 24 RBIs and 9 stolen bases for the Cardinals over the spring. “We’re here to become better players, better teammates.
“You get to watch (players) from all over and take little pieces from everything to do that.”
With that being said, Alonzo is allowing players to learn from situations as well as coach technique and the strategy she prefers.
“I’m really, especially in the first half (of the season), letting people work out of jams or letting my pitchers figure it out,” Alonzo said. “Does it hurt us on the scoreboard? It does, but we’re development and that can develop confidence.
“I fight that competitiveness, but I want them to know they can get it done no matter what situation they are in.”
