The Danville softball team’s goal is to be the best it can be, not the best team ever, and the Blue Devils are hoping that approach will get them through a competitive conference.
“Danville has a strong softball tradition,” Blue Devils softball coach Charlie Duncan told the Mount Vernon News. “We have to build on the tradition every year. We recognize it, honor it and respect it. We wouldn't be where we are today without it.”
The Blue Devils finished 15-9 last year, 6-6 in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference (KMAC). They tuned up for the 2023 season with a 12-1 shellacking of the Lucas Cubs on March 28, and started the KMAC season with an 18-0 trouncing of Mount Gilead, March 29.
“Our team strength will be our chemistry,” Duncan said. “I feel that we have the right mix. Two solid senior leaders (Cordi Richert and Taryn Mickley), and a large battle-tested junior class along with talented sophomore and freshman classes that will contribute right away.”
The Blue Devils have a solid reputation of producing players that can move on to the next level, and Richert and Mickley will continue that tradition, with commitments to play at Wittenberg University and Muskingum University, respectively. A couple of juniors are on the radar to play at college, too.
The challenge this year will be to find quality infielders, as Camie Newbold and Keaura Shilling graduated, while last year’s starting third baseman, sophomore Alicia Humphrey, will be sidelined with an injury for the first few weeks of the season. Shilling and Humphrey landed on the KMAC All-Conference First Team, while Newbold was on the Second Team.
“All three of these holes are in the infield,” Duncan said. “Our entire outfield is back, but the challenges we will face early will be replacing these three infielders. We have some very talented options. They will just need to step up sooner than later.”
Those who will be called on to do that include Richert and freshman Ruby Bartok, both of whom will vie to replace Newbold. Junior Broegan Staats and freshman Addison Bocock are contenders to fill Shilling’s shoes. Sophomores Madison Payne and LuLu Sheldon will likely split time at the hot corner until Humphrey gets healthy. Besides providing defense on the diamond, those who fill in the holes will be called on to hit well, too. Humphrey finished with a .493 average a year ago, Duncan said, and she ranked seventh in the KMAC for slugging percentage at .741.
Junior Grace Gronberg was one of the strikeout leaders of KMAC last year, whiffing 145 opponents, Duncan said. She, sophomore Addison Mickley and newcomers Bocock and Bartok will get some innings on the rubber.
Taylor Price, Jaylyn Smith, Addison Mickley and Abigail Sapp return to the outfield for the Blue Devils. Addison Mickley brings solid hitting skills, batting .440 last season and scoring a team-leading 37 times, Duncan said.
Duncan has been at Danville for 12 years, four of those as head coach. He brings a coaching philosophy that underscores the need to play as a “family.”
“We must work together as a team and lean on each other through good times and bad,” Duncan said. “We win as a team; we learn as a team.”
In the KMAC, four teams played in the District championships last year. Danville has set up a tough non-conference schedule that includes defending state champ Strasburg-Franklin, so the players will have few easy passes this year. With that, they’ll be urged to follow the team motto of being “fearless.”
“That means respect but fear no opponent, fear no situation at the plate or in the field, fear no roll you are given, do not fear making a mistake and be fearless when talking with coaches and players,” Duncan summed up.
With the school’s solid softball tradition, Duncan recognizes that this year’s squad will be its own team.
“We feed off our tradition, but we must leave our own legacy,” Duncan said. “Our mission is to be the best 2023 Danville softball team we can be, not the best Danville softball team ever.”
At 2-0 with a 30-1 run differential, they are starting off on that track.
