Waite softball looks to compete for City League title

The Waite softball team has been to the City League championship in two of the past three seasons, and they expect to be back again this year.

“I feel like we've gotten a little bit better each year,” Waite’s eighth-year head coach Lindsey Barton said. “We've had good numbers of kids coming out, kids that once they’re in the program, they are returning so they can build that experience.”

The Indians finished 12-9 overall last year, including a 10-2 record in City League play. They defeated Rogers in the semifinal before falling to Lima Senior in the championship game. The season ended in the sectional final round against Central Catholic.

“I just think getting more experience is always the name of the game for us because we don't have any kind of feeder system,” Barton said. “By the end of the season, just gaining that much more experience was big.”

Waite graduated a pair of seniors in Lexi Avila and Gabby Fouty. Avila was the team’s primary pitcher, and Destiny Garza will look to step into that role this year along with junior Jacqueline Martinez-Veladiz.

“(Destiny) has definitely improved a lot in the offseason, and she'll probably be our starting pitcher, but Martinez-Veladiz has come a long way as well,” Barton said. “Those two will definitely be our primary (pitchers).”

The team will also have to replace Riley Kuharchek, a catcher/second baseman who isn’t playing this year, and Aaniyah Aldana, a shortstop who moved out of the district.

“We’re definitely working on hitting because both Lexi and Gabby were strong hitters,” Barton said. “I've definitely seen improvement in some of the other girls with their hitting, too, to hopefully make up for those losses in the lineup.”

Garza also returns to the offensive lineup after leading the team in batting average each of the past two seasons en route to back-to-back First Team All-City League selections.

“I definitely think she's going to be a leader out there on the field,” Barton said. “Martinez-Veladiz also grew a lot as a player from the beginning to the end of last season, so I think she's going to be solid as well.”

Barton said Martinez-Veladiz will likely play third when she’s not pitching, and Christa Hamilton is a first baseman who is very consistent with a good bat.

Rayne Dehring will be the team’s starting centerfielder.

“She's been our best outfielder the past couple years, and her bat's starting to really take off,” Barton said.

Barton said a pair of sophomores and a freshman, SuRyah Quisno, will also potentially make an impact. She has a great arm and will likely see a lot of time at shortstop.

“SuRyah has never played before, but she’s grown up around softball,” Barton said. “She has made varsity for volleyball, basketball, and now softball, so she's just very, very gifted athletically. It will be cool to see how much she improves throughout the season once she has some experience under her belt.”

Barton is excited to see what her team can do this year.

“They gel really well together, personality-wise,” Barton said. “They seem to really hype each other up, so that's always obviously good to see as a coach. I'm definitely optimistic. I'm planning on making city championships again because I think we got a lot of talent. We've got girls with some experience coming back this year, and they just seem to work really well with each other.”