Coaches Corner for June 23rd: Reed Smith, Ogden Softball

with us on coaches corner KWB G. Get a chance to talk some Ogden softball today. Reed Smith joining us. Bulldogs, tell you what, had a really nice start to last week. And I know a couple of tough ones against Van Meter to end the week. But boy, coach, you had put together a nice little streak. Had a doubleheader sweep over Erlum a couple of weeks ago. And then last week, you get West Central Valley, ACGC, and Nottaway Valley. It was a pretty good week. And I know Van Meter at the end. And then we'll talk about Woodward Granger from last night. But Reed, this was kind of the softball team you thought you had, wasn't it? We're just starting to click and things were, you know, they were just playing really well together. And they were playing well as a team together. And our defenses started to come around. And we were just making the right plays in the right situations and really playing tough, hard-nosed defense. Which, you know, if we can do that, you know, I feel like our offense is going to be there. And Katie's going to keep us in ball games. And if we can play good defense behind her and really limit our mistakes, you know, I think that we're a tough team to beat. But, you know, you know, I ended up winning sixth in a row. And I went on a nice little win streak. And then, you know, had Van Meter on the ropes for the first game that we played them. We're up 3-1, going into the sixth. And then, you know, they started to hit the ball on us. But, you know, we've been playing really good softball lately. And, you know, I'm proud of the girls. And they're hard work over the course of this season. They're willingness to make adjustments and learn and continue to grow. And, you know, that's all you can ask for as a coach, is, you know, growth out of your players and starting to play good softball at the right time of the year. So we've got about 10 games left in our season. And, you know, it feels like things are trending in the right direction. I'm excited to see, you know, what we can do in this final stretch of our season and into the postseason. Well, I'll tell you what. And I know that you get a chance to see her every day. And I've got a chance to see her, you know, quite a few times now with... It's funny when I say Grace Christensen is a sophomore, you think, okay, a couple of years, but here's a girl who's been around the program now. It's funny when these sophomores now read, you call them veterans and you're thinking, how can they be veterans? But Grace has been through the wars with you guys for a while. Tell me about her fantastic season, though. Here's a girl leading you in base hits. Her on-base percentage has just been fantastic. She finds ways to get on base. And let's be honest, a not easy conference. Yeah, she's had a heck of a season for us this year. She's a kid that's spent a ton of time in the op season working on, working on hitting, working on her slap hitting, is really a dangerous threat in our two spot and you order behind Aubrey. You know, those two kids at the top of our order are really, really fast, you know, one-two punch at the top of our order. And we can really put pressure on defenses if Aubrey gets on base and then we've got, you know, Grace coming up that's got a ton of hits on the season and it's got a bunch of speed and bump and flap and run. And it just gives us a lot of versatility in what we can do as a team. And then, you know, if those two are getting on base, you know, we're really confident with the heart of our order to be able to hit those kids in. But, you know, Grace is just, she's had a great season. I'm really happy for her and all the success that she's had. And, you know, I'm confident that it's going to continue on throughout the rest of this season. And I think it's just a tribute to all the hard work that she's put in in the off season and also throughout the course of this season too. So, she's playing a good center field for us too. You know, we moved her from left field last year to center field this year. And so she's had to take more ownership in the outfield for us this year and has just continued to grow in that position over the course of this season. And, you know, just think that, you know, she's a kid that, you know, attacks every day and every practice and competition with a bunch of energy and enthusiasm and, you know, really believe her attitude and her hard work is why she's having a bunch of success and helping us win ball games this year. Yeah, she really has been a fun kid to watch for sure. Hey, you mentioned somebody else that I wanted to talk about a little bit, Aubrey Leonard and just what a season she's had. Here's a girl who's approaching 40 runs scored and we know at the top of the order she's going to find a way to get on base, which means that's in everybody's scouting report read. I mean, nobody has a scouting report on Ogden and says, okay, we have no idea about this girl that wears number two and she's been around the program for like 15 years. But I mean, Aubrey Leonard still finding ways to get on base. Seems like she's also finding ways to steal a base every now and then, which surprises me that anybody gives her a chance to throw or to, you know, to steal, but they can't throw her out. Can you just tell me about Aubrey a little bit and read, tell me this too, is she having a little fun out there this summer? Yeah, she's just been such a staple for us at Shortstop. You know, this is her fifth year, you know, wearing an Ogden jersey and starting at Shortstop for us. And, you know, she's going to be a kid that's going to be, you know, big shoes to fill once after she graduates this year and goes on to play at Iowa Central. But, you know, it's funny in the third base coaching box and we give, you know, if Aubrey gets on base, you know, we're giving the steal sign first or second pitch and, you know, they're coaching staff and they're the opposing team's fans, you know, they've all looked at bound and, you know, they're all yelling that she's going. So, you know, everyone on the field knows that she's stealing, but, and this year, you know, knock on wood, she hasn't been throwing out yet. So, yeah, she steals a bunch of bases for us. She scores a bunch of runs. If we can get her on base, you know, it just allows a lot of our other kids in our order to do a lot of different things, to help her score a bunch of runs for us. And, you know, she's been able to do that. You know, she's swinging the bat well for us. She's playing a good shortstop. You know, I'm sure there's some plays that, you know, she'd like to have back over the course of the season, but, you know, she's still playing a really good ball for us. She's playing with a lot of energy and having a lot of fun out there. And I just hope that, you know, she has a great experience in her senior season wearing an Ogden uniform before she moved on to Iowa Central and really, really feel like she is. And I think that she also knows that there's work yet to be done with this final stretch of the season and then going into the postseason. So excited to see what she can do, you know, in her final stretch of games and in a Bulldogs uniform. Well, we just talked about from one senior to another senior and Harley Jansen has been a staple. And you want to talk about a difficult kid to have to replace next year. It'll be Harley, but let's, I don't want to think about next year yet. I want to talk about this summer because she is somebody else who I know, people want to steal bases. You know, they want to find ways to not let a catcher take them out of their element. But Reed, if you had to, if you had to run against Harley, you'd have to second-guess yourself a little bit, wouldn't you? You would, yeah, yep. If, you know, if I was an opposing coach and Harley was behind the plate, you know, we'd steal a lot of bases and odd in, but she would make me second-guess running on her. I think, you know, last year, I think, you know, she either led the spade or she was, you know, top three or top five and runners thrown out stealing. I think that, you know, that really helps, you know, teams that we play, keep runners at bay and keep runners at first base. And, you know, coaches look maybe more to punt rather than stealing. And, you know, if we can limit bases, you know, that other teams are taking on us, that's going to allow our defense to play better ball and keep runners, you know, put at first base or second base and really help us play defense behind Katie Pitchin. But, yeah, Harley's having a great season. She's swinging the bat really well. You know, it was fun. We had, you know, a check-in with our players, you know, last week or two weeks ago and asked the kids a few questions on how the season is going and her response was just, you know, this is my final season playing softball. I just want to enjoy it. I'm not worried about stats or wins. I just, I want to have as much fun as I can before she graduates and goes on to Drake University next year. And I think that she's done that. You know, she's, you know, caught, you know, 120, 130 games in her high school career for the Bulldogs and, you know, has done a great job, you know, over these five seasons and I'm excited to see, you know, what she can do toward the end of the season and just, just feel so fortunate and happy to have her on our team. And she's been a great leader for us and does a really nice job behind the plate and in the box. Reed, as always, thank you so much for some time. I know we got 10 to go. Let's get 10 wins and find out what we do in the post season and we'll talk to you again here in a couple of weeks. Haha, sounds great. Thank you. You bet. Reed Smith again joining us. Ogden Softball here in Coach's Corner.