WEST SALEM — There were some question marks surrounding the potential success for the West Salem High School softball team a couple of months ago.
The Panthers had won two straight Coulee Conference championships, three consecutive WIAA Division 2 regionals and qualified for two sectional finals in three years.
Coach Brian Babiash was moving forward without five four-year players who keyed that success, so he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect this spring.
While there were those who believed the Panthers would be just fine as long as Winona State University commit Josie Brudos was in the pitching circle, a lot had to happen for West Salem to be in the position it was on Thursday.
Nearly all of it centered around getting new faces acclimated to expectations.
“We struggled early with the mechanics of playing softball,” Babiash said. “But they have grown so much as a team over the past three weeks.
“It’s amazing.”
The new players on the field earned the right to call themselves champions on Thursday with a 5-1 victory over visiting G-E-T. The Panthers have won 16 of 18 games this season and won their final 11 conference games after an opening 3-2 loss to Arcadia.
Brudos said the loss to the Raiders that came in the second game of the season was an eye-opener for many of the new faces that surrounded her on the field.
“It showed us that we had a lot of work to do for the rest of our conference games,” Brudos said. “That’s the game that showed them what high school varsity softball is.”
By the time the second Arcadia game rolled around — about three weeks after the first one — both Brudos and Babiash thought the team had turned a corner.
Babiash had all four of his returning players — senior Madison Elsen, junior Kylie Elsen and sophomore Brooklyn Lee being the others — in the top four spots of his batting order against the Red Hawks.
That core has been as consistent as can be throughout the season for an offense that has averaged 9.1 runs per game.
Juniors Briauna Mathison, sophomores Brooklyn Haverly-Ghelfi, Brenna Pontius and Brylee Vick and freshman Parker Powell have all complemented that group of returning players well.
“I think once they got over the fear factor of taking over for the girls that are no longer here, they saw that they can play the game,” Babiash said. “I think they tried to be them, and we want them to be who they are.”
Brudos, of course, needed to be who she has always been to make this work. But she has also taken the challenge of being a leader for the younger players seriously.
“I want to be someone the younger girls can come to and be the role model they need,” she said. “I want to lead by example for everyone.”
In terms of performance, Brudos has certainly done that.
Her 18 games have included 29 hits and a .537 batting average from the top of the order. She has hit 11 home runs — yes, 11 — to go with four doubles, two triples and 20 runs driven in.
Brudos has also struck out 180 batters while walking 20 and allowing 54 hits over 99 1/3 innings. That adds up to an ERA of 0.70 while calling her own pitches.
Babiash said he wasn’t sold on that idea at the beginning of the season but was willing to give it a try.
“She’s grown from that,” he said. “I think she has understood the finer points of moving the ball and changing the eye contact for the hitters.
“That shows, and I think she has done some amazing things in terms of calling the games.”
