Sports
Sioux keen to keep climbing in new season
Matthew Semisch
03/31/2015
What a difference 10 months make.
Late last May, the Westhope-Newburg-Bottineau (W-N-B) softball team finished a program-best third place at the Class B state tournament in Minot.
The Sioux finished with a 14-8 record, which might not look like what you would expect from most upper-tier teams. However, W-N-B got hot near the end of the season, won its first-ever West Region playoff title and won a state tourney third-place game over Enderlin-Maple Valley on May 31.
That’s how big of a difference 10 months can make. What’s even more staggering is what can happen in two years’ time.
W-N-B’s softball program first hit the field in 2012. The Sioux finished that first season of their existence with an 0-11 record.
These days, Layne Fluhrer, head coach of the upshooting Sioux, has a problem on his hands. It is, however, not a bad one to have to deal with.
Namely, it’s the number of girls that went out for the softball team this season.Word of the Sioux’s meteoric success seems to have spread. Heading into the new season, 34 girls signed up to play softball for W-N-B.
Almost all of the core group from last year’s highly-successful team is back, though, and there are only so many starting spots to dole out. The added numbers this year are leading to hightened competition for spots, however, and senior pitcher Samantha Colman sees that as a good thing.
“I think (last season) has to do with some of it,” she said, “but I’ve had a lot of the newer girls come up to me before and tell me they were interested in playing, and they’re coming along fast, but we also have so many people back.
“We only lost three seniors, and pretty much everybody that was on varsity last year will be on it again this year, but I’m excited to see what the new girls can do. I’m really excited about what we might be able to do this season,” Colman added.
On Fluhrer’s end, he is enjoying the more intense competition for playing time. To him, more players battling for spaces on the field will only help his team.
“We have 34 girls out for softball this year, so things feel like they’re a little bit different from what they have been in the past,” Fluhrer said.
“It’s good, though, because when you have that many girls to pick from, there’s competition and competition brings out the best in everybody. It’s not a bad problem to have at all.
“We return seven out of our nine starters, and a lot of the girls are younger that are coming in,” he continued. “We also have four or five girls that are fighting for a couple of varsity spots to play along with the older girls.”
Looking at the first two games of the season, however, Fluhrer expects to field all veteran starters. The Sioux will visit Minot High on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for a scrimmage before welcoming Stanley to Westhope next Tuesday for W-N-B’s official season-opener.
Two of the biggest names on Fluhrer’s list of projected starters are Colman and first-baseman Lauren Mach. Both were All-State selections last season as juniors, and they will be expected to lead the Sioux once more this time around.
Many wondered if Mach would be able to play this season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee early in Westhope-Newburg’s (W-N) 2014-15 girls basketball season. She has, however, been cleared to play softball this season.
“We return the two All-Staters from last year in Sam and Lauren, and I’m excited to see what they’re going to do,” Fluhrer said. “Lauren had the ACL injury and she’s looking pretty good right now but you never know what she’s going to be able to do.
“With Sam, you know exactly what you’re going to get from her day-in and day-out. She’s one of the best pitchers in the state if not the best pitcher in the state, and we have a chance to beat anybody when she’s on the mound for us.”
The Sioux will need to get big contributions all over the field if they are to go even further this season. That’s the goal, though: To win a state championship.
“We return so much this year, a ton of people, and we have high goals and know that we can definitely achieve them,” Mach said.
“We want to win a state championship. It’s that simple.”