Offense will carry Cheney softball in the beginning

Cheney High softball head coach Gary Blake has had more than historically bad spring weather to deal with to start the 2017 season. He's also had personnel issues.

Originally, Blake anticipated 11 players returning from last year's team that went 13-11 and surprised everyone by getting hot down the stretch to capture the Lady Blackhawks second consecutive District 7 title. Cheney ended the season with a 9-2 loss to Selah in a glue-in game with the Central Washington Athletic Conference.

But, those returners didn't all materialize. One player is ineligible to play this year while two others, including sophomore starting pitcher Cheyenne Gleave who is now at Liberty High School, left.

Another player, junior transfer Erin Jones, will likely have to play junior varsity this season. And to top things off, while practicing in the school gym earlier this spring as the team awaited its field to dry, junior returnee Maddie Kallsen suffered a concussion while playing catch with her freshman sister Jordyn.

"It's been a wild ride so far, with weather and also with personnel, but hopefully things will smooth out," Blake said.

That's likely the case, as Kallsen's return is anticipated after spring break once she has enough practices. The upside to all of this is it's allowed Blake and assistant coach Jeff VanHorne the opportunity to give players on the JV squad some varsity experience, and subsequently C squad players JV experience.

The upshot of all this is Cheney returns nine players, six starters from last year's team. They are led by senior Rachel Barsness at shortstop. Barsness has been a varsity starter all four years, along with a second-team All-GNL selection as a freshman and first-team pick the past two seasons.

Defensively, freshman Logan Krantz gets the start at first, with junior Kara Johnstone at second and fellow junior Meghan Krantz moving to third from centerfield. In the outfield, Mercedes Mitzimberg is in left, Courtney Hanson in center and Alyson Dassow in right.

Shelby Melton returns behind the plate, with the other half of Cheney's battery being sophomore newcomer Maria Guglielmo.

Guglielmo is a student at the Oaks Academy in Spokane, but because the school does not offer softball and her family lives in the Cheney School District, she's able to suit up for the Lady Blackhawks. Once Maddie Kallsen is cleared to play, she will also provide innings on the mound as well as at third, which would move Krantz either to first or the outfield.

Offensively, Hanson hits leadoff, followed by Guglielmo, Barsness and Meghan Krantz in cleanup. Logan Krantz hits fifth, and the order is rounded out by Johnstone, Melton, Dassow and Mitzimberg.

Cheney has been hitting about .405 as a team, driving in 78 runs with 48 hits so far. The offense will be a strong suit for the Lady Blackhawks this season, especially as the weather warms up, helping the pitching and defense to improve.

Most of those runs and hits came in Cheney's first two games. Last week, the hits were a bit scarce, but more timely as Cheney ran its record to 4-0 with wins at Connell, 19-9, and in the home opener, 8-4, against Deer Park.

At Connell March 21, Cheney managed eight hits, but was the beneficiary of 17 walks and four hit batters by Eagles' pitching - the product Blake said of miserably wet and windy conditions. That came to fruition in the second inning as the Lady Blackhawks sent 13 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs, keyed by Barsness' grand slam home run.

Guglielmo was also affected by the weather and struggled on the mound, but got some key defensive stops behind her.

"It was a nightmare for pitchers," Blake said. "I basically had mine throw fastballs; neither had much control."

Barsness led Cheney offensively, going 3 for 5 with six RBIs.

Guglielmo helped her own cause Saturday against Deer Park, going 2 for 4 while Logan Krantz had two RBIs in Cheney's win.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].