Cougars Have Nationals on Their Minds

Jeremy Jacob, Harbinger

Feb. 1, 2016

Playing deep into May has become routine for the Illinois Central College softball team in recent years even when in the most trying times.

Coach Heather Doty will be starting her tenth season as head coach when the team begins their season at the JUCO Kickoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. Jan. 29-31.  Over her previous nine seasons at the helm, the Cougars have earned a trip to the Division II National Tournament five times including each of the last four years.  This success hasn’t come without adversity, however.

“We play really good competition in the beginning of the season,” Doty said referring to a 1-9 start they had last season.  “And that gives us the areas we need to work on”.  Teams can let a slow start like this bog them down affecting them the rest of the way.  One goal the Cougars have attained plenty of times before that motivates them and aids them in digging out of the early-season hole: nationals.

“What kept us going was wanting to get back to nationals,” Doty said.  “Each year holds different challenges so it was about the same as other years”.  That feeling of deja vu is not only limited to the the challenges they’ve experienced on the diamond but also their roster this upcoming year.  The Cougars are returning 56 percent of their RBIs from a year ago.

“It makes a huge difference,” Doty said when asked about her returning run producers.  “We should be a threat at the plate”.  Among the familiar group are Casey Brunton (23 RBIs), Alison Haesele (28), Megan Foes (20), and Jena Reddig (31).  These players contributed to a 28-7 turnaround over the last two months of the regular season last year where they upped their runs per game average from 2.6 to 7.7 leading to yet another trip to nationals.

Haesele, Foes, and Reddig also displayed skills with their arms, which Doty believes to be another viable reason to like this team.

“It is nice to have three veteran pitchers who have experience,” Doty said when asked about the trio.  Haesele, Foes, and Reddig had a combined 15 wins and 2.93 ERA–the best for any other incumbent trio in their region.  Doty also has some leeway concerning how far she can extend them as they combined for 196 innings last year.

While the sophomores bring back much needed expertise and savvy, the incoming freshman offer the team another element according to Doty.  She witnessed this firsthand back in the fall.

“Courtney Pearson is an offensive threat,” Doty said.  “She had 5 home runs in the fall season”.  Doty asserted that Pearson was the first player at any time to hit for the cycle under her leadership.  Cassie Shaw, she said, is another player worth watching on the mound.

As she achieved five times already in her tenure, Doty will attempt to influence the freshman to think that nationals is a realistic expectation rather than just a dream.

“We expect to be very competitive and get back to nationals,” Doty said.

The Cougars appear in preseason rankings as 8th in Division II and are the favorites in Regions 16 and 24.  All in all, they welcome back eight players as well as 5 starters.  This group includes 2B/SS Brunton, P/OF Foes, P/SS Haesele, P/1B Reddig, 3B Megan Connor, OF Brooke Bolliger, C Kaleigh McAlister and 2B/SS Joy Treasure.

Along with OF/3B Pearson (Milan, Ill.) and P/1B Cassie Shaw (Moline, Ill.), the Cougars add to the fold C Madyson Fox (Beardstown, Ill.), OF/C Abby Jacques (Princeton HS), OF Kodee Mital (Milan, Ill.), and OF/3B Morgan Twing (Rock Island, Ill.).     

Cover photo by Mark Nyzc. Alison Haesele hopes to carry her positive results on the mound from last season over to this one.