HAWKS SOFTBALL LOOKS TO BUILD ON LAST SEASON IN 2023

NORFOLK, Neb. – Excitement is building for the Northeast Community College softball team as they prepare to take on Hesston College in a four-game set. After a historic 2022 season, the squad is ready to hit the diamond and prove they have what it takes in 2023.

Head Softball Coach Iris Woodhead is ready to see her team on the field, and there is one message that her group is focused on this year.

"Love what you do," Woodhead said. "You have to have fun. Excitement. Softball is such a negative sport, and you have to find ways for it to be rewarding. You have to find ways to reward good plays and find ways to build off of those. If you're enjoying your time out there it's going to be fun to play and it's going to be fun to watch."

The Hawks battled Briar Cliff University JV on February 18 in Sioux City, Iowa, but outside of that contest they haven't faced live action yet to this point. There's no doubt that everyone is ready to hit the field to see where they truly stack up.

"Our group is itching to play," Woodhead said. "We played our scrimmage on the 18^th, and that went well. They are itching to get on the field. One thing that they've talked about during practice is how excited they are to just put their cleats on and be on dirt. The coaches are excited. Our pitchers and our hitters are excited."

Northeast set a program record for wins in a season with 24 last year, and Woodhead is thrilled to have many of the pillars from that squad back for another run.  

"It's nice that we have a lot of our sophomores back," Woodhead said. "Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.) and Josie Knust (Plattsmouth, Neb.) are back in the circle. Josie is still at first base. Our whole left side of the infield is back with Abby Balfour (Nebraska City, Colo.) and Alexis Folks (Arvada, Colo.). Our outfield is mostly the same. We have a lot of starters that are back in the lineup that were able to do good things last year. We are looking to just continue to build off that."

Northeast graduated a lot of production in the form of Brianna Aguilera and Greta Lindberg, but Woodhead is looking forward to seeing who will step up as their replacements.

"Our approach is a little different with Greta Lindberg and Brianna Aguilera gone," Woodhead said. "If you look at our program records, they both hold a lot of them. Our offense has to change a little bit. Maybe we'll need to play small ball a little more. Maybe we'll need to run the bases a little more. The small changes that we need to make are easy changes."

Abby Balfour, Alexis Folks, Josie Knust and Emilee Spitz were all named Honorable Mention All-Region in 2022, and Woodhead is looking for them to make a few adjustments to reach even more success in 2023.

"Emilee and Josie were big hitters for us last year, but they weren't the big-weight pullers," Woodhead said. "This year they are going to have to pull a little more weight. They are going to have to be bigger RBI hitters for us. Abby and Alexis are typically at the top of the lineup and were our big run scores. They have to be creative on the bases and find a way to get to second base and to scoring position so the middle of our lineup can hit them in. It is a small change. They do have to adapt a little bit."

On the newcomer side of things, Ahdriana Medrano (Grand Island, Neb.), Taylor Schmidt (Norfolk, Neb.), Amanda Gonzales (Denver, Colo.) and Ellie Schwede (Norfolk, Neb.) are all players that Woodhead is giddy about having in the fold.

"Our freshmen coming in are wanting to play," Woodhead said. "Taylor has been playing well. Amanda has been swinging well. Ellie has been swinging well. Ahdriana is real quiet, but she is very internally motivated. She is playing second base really well for us and she is making great adjustments at the plate."

Woodhead also likes what she sees with the new crop of players mixing in with the veterans.

"The nice thing is we had all fall for them to get their jitters out," Woodhead said. "I think they are going to blend in just fine. Our sophomores have high expectations, and they have vocalized those. We do as much live as we can as a coaching staff. We put a lot of pressure on our freshmen playing those key positions."

At the end of the day, Woodhead wants her players to be enjoying themselves throughout the grind that the next few months will provide.

"Like I said earlier, our model this year is love what you do," Woodhead said. "If we can walk away at the end of the season saying that we put it all out there, it will be a successful season in my eyes. If we give it our all, I'm happy."

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