Coaches Corner for June 9th: Reed Smith, Ogden Softball

with us on coaches corner KWBG get a chance to talk some Ogden softball as we kick off our summer interviews spring had such a successful year for Ogden read I know you could talk about that as an ad and maybe we'll talk about that a little bit here toward the end but softball season boy you want to talk about busy 17 games in with another one slated for tonight read that's a lot of softball so far this summer uh yeah absolutely um you know just um we've got an experience group this year a lot of juniors and seniors and then we've got some sophomores that have played quite a bit as well and um you know you know we thought they would be ready to um you know just get out there and compete it on and you know we've competed well in a lot of games and then you know there are some things that you know just like any team we've got a shore up and continue to work on and um you know I think that you know I you know I'm confident in these girls and I think that you know when we bring our best stuff that you know we're a really tough team to beat and we can compete with anyone and um just need to start clicking at the right time and and get hot at the right time um you know I you know we try and remind the girls that um you know hey these games are important right now and you know we want to bring our best stuff every day but you know ultimately if you know if we can get hot towards the end of the season and start playing our best ball towards the postseason then you know ultimately you know that's what that's what really matters um and that's when we can really showcase you know what we're able to do so well you had a chance this last weekend to go to the Iowa Falls Alden tournament get a couple of good games you got a nice win against Iowa Falls Alden and then I saw this baller team against Boone a few weeks ago I thought they were pretty solid squad and I know you hung around right in that one as well read what'd you think about Iowa Falls over the weekend yeah it was a it was a good opportunity for kids kids to go and compete um you know I thought that we swung the bat really well um in both games you know in the baller game you know they're they're a great team you know they don't make a whole lot of mistakes and they can really swing the bat and you know we left some kids on base and had some opportunities to score but um you know I think the score was nine three but you know when you're playing that game it feels like it's a lot closer game um and I just you know again I feel like our girls are really competing well in the box and are swinging the bat really well and you know if our offense can stay where it is or even get a little bit better throughout the course of the season I I think that we're going to be a competitive group well and you talk about that experience and a couple I wanted to talk about right away with you this week read was um I want to talk about your duo in the circle and behind the plate with Harley and Katie and it was fun to watch them early in the season I feel like I've been saying that name both those names for a long time and I'm sure you've appreciated that just because you you kind of know who's going to go out there for you but just tell me about that tandem a little bit what's it like read when you don't have to maybe make a trip out to the circle where you can just send Harley out there and she knows exactly what she needs to talk to Katie about and they can have that conversation because they've been doing it for a couple years yeah they're just they're a couple of kids that we just trust so much as a coaching staff you know they've been in in the circle and behind the plate for I think four straight years now and you know they are kids that you know know the brand of softball that we want to play and have high expectations for themselves and for their teammates and um you know Harley just does a great job of you know when oh you know maybe when we're not playing through the expectation that we'd like to set um with the expectation that the kids have for themselves to go out and calm things down a little bit and and try and get us back on the right track but um you know Katie's been pitching well for us this year she's you know given us a chance um you know get a lot of ground balls get a lot of fly balls um you know feels like she's striking more kids out this year and has really worked hard in the off season to to improve and you know Harley's just been such a staple for us behind the plate and continues to keep base runners at bay and and works hard for us and um you know she's swinging the bat really well at the plate too you know we've got her hitting fourth and um she's just such a contact hitter where you know even if she's not getting a base hit she's putting the ball in play and moving runners and and really just doing selfless things that you know good teammates do and good softball players do where you know they're moving base runners and they're putting the ball in play and they're scoring runs but you know ultimately she's hitting over 400 too so she's getting plenty of base hits too and and having a lot of success in her senior year as well. She just is one of those catchers and I know we've had some really good ones come to the county read and you've seen them when it comes to to you guys obviously or I can talk about matter or I can talk about boon read in the scouting report even if you're a team that likes to steal you really have to consider do we really want to try it tonight don't you? Absolutely yeah you know and as a coach you know we love to steal bases on when we're on offense and so you know if we were facing you know a catcher like Harley you know we would really have to second guess you know how often we're gonna send kids and you know ultimately on defense if we can keep teams that like to steal a lot of bases at bay and keep them at first base and keep them from moving runners that really you know that really helps our defense and keeps the double play in order and you know keeps force outs in order too and ultimately helps us prevent teams from scoring runs but yeah she's just she's been such a staple you know her and Katie were just kids that you know we love the coach and you know we trust them when they're out on the field and know that they're going to play as hard as they can and you know ultimately you know that you know this is both of their senior years and you know they're going to be big shoes to fill and replace in the future and just you know hope that I hope that they're taking their last year all in and you know just playing as hard as they can Katie's going to go off to play college softball at Graceland next year and you know Harley's going to be done playing after this year and and study at Drake University and you know just want them to have the best possible experience for their senior year as possible they've just they've just meant so much to the Ogden softball program this year and you know we've got a lot of season left and we've got a lot of games left to play and you know just want to want to remind those kids that you know it's you know softball's fun and it's competitive and we want to play winning softball but you know ultimately those kids have met so much the program that we want them to enjoy it and have a blast and have fun playing with their teammates and really just you know really just enjoy loving it and and loving playing the game. Reed I know we're kind of running out of time here but there's two more I really wanted to talk about this week so guess what we're going to squeeze them in. Dakota Jones has been such a nice surprise this year I'd see her in JV games last year and I'd go boy this is this is your future I mean as a freshman last year you're thinking okay three more years with her you know what's going to happen is a sophomore I know you never like to say surprise Reed because you get a chance to see these girls every day but Dakota Jones what an improvement this year for her. Absolutely yeah you know she was you know mainly a courtesy runner for us last year and you know has been so successful in her track seasons as a freshman and sophomore and she was so dangerous for us on the bases last year stealing over 20 bases and scoring a bunch of runs for us as a courtesy runner and you know ultimately she's just a kid that's had a hot bat this year and you know she's hitting 500 right now and you know her bat seems to find the barrel of the ball and you know in a majority of her at bats whether she's getting a base hit or even when she's making a loud out she's wanting you know lining out or hitting a hard ground ball to the defense and you know she's just had a ton of success this year and you know again you know she doesn't need to be a courtesy runner to be a menace on the bases so you know she's getting on base 20 for us and still stealing plenty of bases and scoring some runs and you know just you know happy with you know her finding a ton of success with all the hard work that she's put in and you know I think that the success that she's had in other sports is you know started to carry over into softball just to allow her to be more confident and and and play really well for us. Well speaking of confidence is the last one I wanted to talk about this week Claire Cruz and again another player I saw play last year during JV and I remember asking a couple of people in the box you know okay so tell me about this sophomore that's up here and and because I knew okay we'd have her for a couple more years potentially on varsity this year boy Claire's kind of jumped on the scene and there's a girl that's also shown a ton of improvement. Absolutely yeah she just she's a kid where it feels like you know if she's making contact with the ball she's hitting hard and she's putting pressure on defenses you know is is really doing well at the plate you know we track quality at bat percentages and you know she's at she's one of our our top quality at bat percentage leaders and she's also you know shown a lot of growth in the circle too you know she's you know our first in relief we're going to start some of those games and we have double headers or tournaments on the weekends and it has really grown as a pitcher as well and I really feel confident with her in the circle as well as kind of a you know a second hand or a second arm behind Katie but again just both Dakota and Clara two kids that you know really work hard really put in a lot of time in the offseason really love to play love to be in the dugout cheering on their teammates and and do a lot of the right things so really happy for those two kids to find find some success with you know individual statistics and you know hope that that continues and you know we're gonna we're gonna do everything we can to you know help those kids find success you know going forward they've just had such a great start to the year read best of luck coming up tonight to end the rest of the week as well I know Underwood tournament's going to be here before we know it and we'll talk again with you here in a couple of weeks awesome thank you you bet Reed Smith again joining us Ogden softball here in coaches corner