Steve Bonastia doesn’t need your sympathy, and he’s not ready for anyone to throw a pity party for what, on the surface, looks like a somewhat diluted Seckman softball team.
But given what the Jaguars accomplished last fall, and the fact that they still have their hammer back on the mound, the head coach advises opponents not to sleep on his team.
Senior Zoe Martin was sensational last season, particularly in the postseason, where she allowed just three runs in 37 innings. Pitching the Jaguars to their sixth district and fourth sectional titles, the righty was almost superhuman in a 3-2 sectional championship win over Cor Jesu.
Martin, who finished the season 14-2 after a state quarterfinal loss to Washington in extra innings, also fashioned a 1.08 earned-run average during a 22-5 campaign.
She wasn’t exactly chopped liver with a bat in her hands, either. Martin came on strong in the second half of the season, batting .397 with eight home runs and 32 runs batted in.
“I think as great as she was last year, Zoe knows, deep down, she has some unfinished business to tend to,” Bonastia said. “Everybody talks about the great job of pitching she did, but she really came on at the plate.”
Martin, who will get the bulk of the workload in the circle this fall, will be backed up by another senior, Bailey Korhammer.
“The reason (Korhammer) pitched on the JV last year was because we had Kelly McMahon, and Bailey would have gotten limited time (with the varsity),” Bonastia said. “She certainly has the potential to win some games for us, and would probably be the go-to (pitcher) on 90 percent of teams in the area.”
Along with Martin, three other starters return – third baseman Meagan McCorkell (.466 average, five homers, 26 RBIs), catcher Kamryn Sloan (.356, three home runs, 29 RBIs) and shortstop Taylor Duff (.333, 13 RBIs).
“Meagan wants to be as good as she possibly can be,” Bonastia said. “The effort she put in off the field is as much as she puts in on the field. Taylor did a phenomenal job for us as a sophomore, and Kam has a cannon behind the plate. But really, you could put her anywhere on the field and she would excel.”
Bonastia will spend a good portion of the season mixing and matching the rest of his lineup. Among his outfield prospects are Haley Luksza, Shelby Salger, Trinity Davis and Bella Schlemmer. Other infielders include Abby Townsend, Emily Kramer, Grace Korhammer and Emma Deane, with Samantha Krug most likely serving as Sloan’s backup.
“We’re replacing five starters, and basically our entire outfield,” Bonastia said. “I’ve told the girls we’ve got pretty much five open spots and 10 candidates to fill them. I don’t know if starting over would be the best phrase to use, but more like getting them is used to this level of play. It’s going to be important, especially with the outfielders, that they communicate with each other. But I’ve seen a big change from the first day of practice.
“I guess we’ll take some lumps. But I think we’re good enough to where I really believe we are good enough to get back to where we were last year. It’s all about getting comfortable with each other.”
The Jaguars dished out the lumps at last week’s tournament in Union. The Jaguars beat Affton, Farmington and Pacific by a combined score of 37-3 to win the championship. Sloan hit four home runs in 10 plate appearances. Duff and Luksza both hit .600 in the tournament and Duff had four RBIs. Martin was 2-0 in the circle and has an ERA of 1.27 in 11 innings.