By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – First-year coach Jason Gorst has a long-term plan for the Spencer softball program, but for the short term, he just wants the Rockets to be competitive on a game-to-game basis.
The Rockets are off to a 0-2 start to the season, but Gorst is being patient.
Second-team all-Cloverbelt Conference East third baseman Nicki Bruss has moved to pitcher and is one-half of a formidable battery that includes sophomore catcher Krystal Weier, a first-team all-Cloverbelt pick a year ago.
“Nicki has put a lot of time in offseason as we’ve converted her into a pitcher,” Gorst said. “Throughout the course of the summer she put in 3-4 days of work, took a little bit of break during volleyball and in the winter was working on pitching again three days a week. She’s come a long ways. She throws strikes and keep us in games, one of the better overall athletes I’ve ever coached in terms of attitude, approach and willingness to do what’s good for the team.”
The Rockets lost a tight 5-4 game to Stratford in their season opener, then were drummed by Greenwood 18-4 in their Cloverbelt East opener last Friday.
Gorst said he was happy with the way Spencer played against one of the top teams in the area in Stratford, but the defensive struggles against Greenwood (12 errors) were something that haunted the Rockets last year and needs to be fixed for them to improve on their 5-11 record of 2009.
“You never feel good about a loss, but we did take something from the game, competing with a quality team like Stratford. We talked about correcting some of the little things, then the next night it was one of those games that’s hard to describe.
“Last year we had some struggles on varsity on defense. It’s something we have to get corrected. We were going in right direction but took a couple of steps back against Greenwood. It’s a matter of taking more reps and cleaning them up.”
Offensively, Gorst said he thinks the top of the Rockets’ order will be strong.
Shortstop Danica Johnson leads off and brings a high on-base percentage and aggressive base running, Gorst said.
Deanna Szybowicz, who started the first two games at third base for freshman Paige Johnson, will play second base or outfield.
Weier, who hit over .400 last year, is the team’s top average and power hitter and will hit third.
Senior Dominique Stange, who will play outfield and be the Rockets’ No. 2 pitcher, hit a home run in the opener against Stratford and will hit clean-up.
Johnson should also return to the lineup Friday against Neillsville after missing the first week of the season while playing on a junior hockey team in a tournament.
After that, Gorst isn’t totally sure what he has as far as offensive production goes. Bruss, Monica Stange (outfield), Sam Stelson (second base), Jenna Hagen (outfield) and Courtney Schulz (first base) are among the “six or seven” girls that will fill in final four or five spots in the lineup.
“We’ll try to find right combination to give us the best chance to give us a win,” Gorst said.
