08 strapped up their laces, sharpened their bayonets and loaded up on the face paints to match their ghillie suits at the Marucci Goliath tournament in Shawnee, KS over the weekend. This was the girls first true 10uB tournament as they’ve entered & placed in open tournaments before so this was a bit different. The competition is usually better and more consistent.
08 started the fall 10uC with hopes of with hard work and dedication becoming B over the winter. They DID THAT!
The moxie of the team – lead by coach Kurt Calton – is a mixture of athletic, hard working and dedicated girls with all families on the same page with the coaches. What’s better is, collectively, they’re more like “neighbors” instead of softball sisters.
They have all done everything that’s been asked of them with enthusiasm and it’s shown over the course of the winter. I really think they could compete in A-ball if we had the pitching. Last fall we started with 1 1st year pitcher on the team and picked up another player who decidedto give it a go at pitcher. Pitcher Cameron Hoehns has worked her tail off over the winter to consistently own the circle for our team.
Pitcher Aryana Roberts is also hard at work and it’s a matter of when, not if, she’ll find her consistent form. Where Ary currently lacks in pitching experience at the moment, she more than makes up for it at the plate. After an off-season of switching to the left side of the plate she’s worked her tail off to become our true speedy leadoff hitter. Very exciting times for sure.
As typical with Ambush teams, we PLAY DEFENSE! Others have taken notice as this is what I’ve received from coach Kurt (via text) from his overall observation of the weekend. There were multiple outstanding defensive plays being made the entire weekend. Everything he said->
As far as offense, these guys have been hitting the off-season hard at that as well. Being aggressive at the plate with timely hits have allowed us to enjoy being on the winning side more often than not.
For this group, I figure them to start pushing the A barrier sooner rather than later. It’s not all about A/B/C level at this point as it’s ultimately more about their development (in and outside of softball). I must say, they’re developing quite nicely.
#MasterPlan #KCAmbush #AmbushStrong
