Submitted Photo Bindy Bolander hit an out of the park home run in a tournament in Beresford on Saturday. This is the first home run of the inaugural Winner Area softball team. Bolander is congratulated by Shayne Day with Melanie Brozik in the right.
Winner
Area girls softball team played in a tournament Saturday in Beresford.
The
girls lost two games and won one game.
Brindy
Bolander had an over the fence out of the park home run in the game with
Beresford. Winner lost the game 8-6. Tianna Evans was the losing pitcher.
In the
first game, Winner Area played West Central and lost 17-0. Aleya Miller was the
losing pitcher.
Winner
Area defeated Tri Valley 9-2. Evans was the winning pitcher
The
team’s record is 4-3.
“We are doing
good,” said coach Cheyenne Dougherty. “We are figuring out our positions and
making changes where the girls feel comfortable.”
Monday
the Warriors traveled to Wagner for an afternoon game.
On
Monday, May 15, Winner Area will host Mobridge in a double header at 5 p.m. at
the Bailey Softball complex.There will be two five inning games.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Seniors on the Winner Area softball team are from left Shayne Day, Melanie Brozik, Brindy Bolander, Sophie Hofeldt and Aleya Miller.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Playing for the Winner Area softball team are in front from left Jaelyn Assman, Emma Vandenbark, Kalene Preslicka, Katie Pederson, Tila Harter, Shannon Rank and Alexis Bennett. In back from left are Reagan Vaughn, Madelyn Danford, LaShanna Connot, Maree Pravecek, Melanie Brozik, Aleya Miller, Ellison Kaiser, Sophie Hofeldt and Brindy Bolander. Not pictured are Shayne Day, Tianna Evans and Emily Sachtjen.
History
will be made when the first pitch is thrown in the Winner Area softball game on
April 13.
Winner
Area will host Wagner at 5 p.m. at Jaycee Field.
This is
the inaugural season of girls softball in South Dakota.
Cheyenne
Dougherty is the head coach with Shawna Kaiser as the assistant coach.
Dougherty
is a 2020 graduate of Colome High School and she grew up playing softball and
having a love of the sport.
She is
excited for the season to start.
There
are 19 girls on the team which are made up of Winner and Colome girls in high
school and middle school. Dougherty says five of the members of the team are
from Colome.
Playing
on the team are: Jaelyn Assman, Alexis Bennett, Brindy Bolander, Melanie
Brozik, Lashanna Connot, Madelyn Danford, Shayne Day, Tienna Evans, Tila
Harter, Sophie Hofeldt, Ellison Kaiser, Aleya Miller, Maree Pravecek, Katie
Pederson, Karlene Preslicka, Shannon Rank, Emily Sachtjen, Emma Vandenbark and
Reagan Vaughn.
The
seniors on the team are: Brindy Bolander, Melanie Brozik, Aleya Miller, Shayne
Day, Sophie Hofeldt.
Dougherty
said the girls have had two outdoor practices with the rest inside at the
Armory.
“We are
trying to get our hands on the ball and get some conditioning going,” said the
coach.
In
addition to afternoon practices, there have been some early morning sessions.
When
asked what she is looking forward to, Dougherty said “I am hoping we can have
fun and learn about softball. Wins and losses don’t matter to me as long as we
are having fun and learning softball,” she said.
Dougherty
explained Shawna Kaiser had reached out to her to see if she had the time to be
the head coach. Dougherty was also contacted by Brett Gardner, Winner High
School activities director.
Dougherty
says she enjoys the role of a coach.
There
are six games scheduled with the April 13 game the only one in Winner. There
will be a Sweet 16 game where teams will qualify for the state tournament which
will be held in Aberdeen the first three days of June.
A game
planned for April 1 in Mobridge was postponed due to the weather.
The
board of directors of the South Dakota High School Activities Association
sanctioned high school softball in November of 2021 with spring of 2023 being
slated as the inaugural season.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Winner student section cheers for the boys basketball team last Tuesday in Chamberlain. The Warriors faced Hot Springs in the SoDak 16 game for the right to advance to the Class A state tournament.