The Wright City softball team opened up its season 2-2, but Head Coach Fred Ross sees plenty of room for improvement with his young team. “We’re not hitting the ball as well as I’d like, and we …
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The Wright City softball team opened up its season 2-2, but Head Coach Fred Ross sees plenty of room for improvement with his young team.
“We’re not hitting the ball as well as I’d like, and we haven’t played really well at home,” he said Monday. “I was disappointed about how we came out Thursday. We’ve got a lot of people worrying about individual stuff and not team stuff right now.”
Ross said Wright City came out flat in last week’s 11-5 loss at home against conference foe Elsberry.
“We had a meeting Friday and hopefully that will fix some things and people will realize this is a team game and not an individual game,” he said. “There are a bunch of little things you have to do right, but right now we’re just swinging for the fences and not getting bunts down or doing the fundamental stuff.”
Immediately before the season, sophomore outfielder Remi Taylor transferred to Winfield.
Taylor was fourth on the team last year with a .403 average, and expected to start in center field and lead off this year.
“You miss her bat in the leadoff spot, and that’s what our team’s missing right now because we’re not hitting well,” Ross said.
Last season, five Wright City players hit at least .385.
This year, junior catcher Leah Vossen (.462) is the only player hitting over .333.
Vossen leads the team in on-base percentage (.500), runs scored (7), doubles (2), home runs (3) and RBIs (8).
“She is really the only one on the team who is hitting right now,” Ross said. “She is really trusting her hands and driving the ball and it’s hard to pitch to her. Last year, you could pitch to her inside and she would pull stuff down the line or pop it up. This year, she is doing a better job with that, and the long ball has been an added bonus.”
Ross said he hopes the mental mistakes will begin to fade as the schedule picks up.
“Our schedule doesn’t get any easier with so many games piling up, but on the days we get to practice, we’ll focus on those things and hopefully we’ll start playing to our potential,” he said. “If teams beat us, we want them to beat our best game, and right now you don’t have to do that.”
.DROPPING A BUNT — Ashton Fast lays down a bunt during Thursday's home game against Elsberry. Kory Carpenter photo.
