The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - With a core group of veteran athletes, the Lady Bulldogs softball team is concentrating this year on their mental game.

"We're doing new things this year like focusing on base running, signs, and knowing where to throw the ball," said junior Nikki Lambert. "If we can get those things down, we'll be one step ahead."

The Lady Bulldogs are already a tough team. They were third in the league last season and lost just one senior, a veteran catcher. They lucked out, however, in Brazilian exchange student Miwa Umeda, who plays full-time softball at home all year. She's Dayton's newest catcher.

"We were rather disappointed in our finish last year," said head coach Terry Robins. Robins has been coaching the softball team in Dayton for nine years with Desirae Jones backing him as assistant coach. "We had a good team last year. So we're hoping to have a better mental game this year."

This year Robins has several returning seniors including Kayla Turner, Rowene Huwe, Claire Lyman and Taylor DeRuwe.

"We're very fortunate this year to have lots of pitchers," Robins said. "That's a big must in this game."

Turner and Lyman together with sophomore Samantha Harting and Colleen Delp are the team's returning pitchers. Robins expects to have six pitchers altogether.

"And we have a lot of speed on our team," he said. "I expect us to be running all the time. That should really help us. We like to run and we like to bunt."

The Lady Bulldogs have 19 girls on the team this year and six new players. Aside from Lambert, the veteran pitchers, Umeda and the returning seniors, the players are Shelby Smith, Sarah Mascall, McKayla Bickelhaupt, Courtney Mings, Jessica Tate, Malia Frame, Darci Hall, Lexus Ward, Jane Ovcharenko, Rebecca White and Brightne Partlow.

Huwe, a fourth year veteran and returning senior, said she's excited about the roster this season.

"Our tournament went really well the other day," she said of the jamboree in Dayton on Saturday. "All of us girls get along really well. We blend well together. We have a lot of athletic girls on our team."

Nearly the entire varsity women's basketball team is on the roster for softball this season, joined by several from the junior varsity squad and one cheerleader.

Th ey h ave n ' t eve n changed venues yet. The girls have been practicing in the high school gym all season so far because of the soggy weather. They use the weights and batting cage on the balcony and practice pitching on the basketball court.

The ladies look forward to the Jaguar Tournament on Saturday at TRAC. This season they've got their eyes on DeSales.

"DeSales is always tough because they have such a good pitcher," Robins said.

Dayton Softball Team

Kayla Turner

Nicole Lambert

Rowene Huwe

Shelby Smith

Samantha Harting

Claire Lyman

Miwa Umeda

Sarah Mascall

McKayla Bickelhaupt

Courtney Mings

Jessica Tate

Malia Frame

Taylor DeRuwe

Colleen Delp

Darci Hall

Lexus Ward

Jane Ovcharenko

Rebecca White

Brightne Partlow