Eagles softball welcomes freshmen, enjoys new facilities during summer workouts

by Michael Smith


Every year in the summer, the Grain Valley softball team gets a head start in preparing for the fall season.

This year, the Eagles held open field sessions every Tuesday and Thursday from May 28 until Aug. 1, with a 9-day long dead week in late June and early July.

These sessions are beneficial for both the coaches and the players, especially for second-year head coach Flip Courter, who gets to evaluate some of the incoming freshmen talent.

Last summer, Courter saw a few freshmen show off advanced level talent, which eventually led to them cracking the varsity lineup. Players such as Molly Jones and Madison Rust impressed during the open sessions and were a big part of Grain Valley’s 24-7 varsity season.

“We have quite a few freshmen coming in and I’ve only seen a couple of them play before,” Courter said. “We can bring in some older players, but we have seen them enough. It’s an opportunity for them to make a statement saying this is who I am, and this is what I can do.

“Last year Molly Jones and Addison Rust made the varsity lineup as freshmen. Are we going to have another one of those this year? I don’t know. We’ve seen some girls that I would have never known their names and now they come out, and I find out they are good.”

It also helps that some of the older players get to know some of the freshmen and build chemistry with them as some members of the team work on hitting, fielding, and pitching drills during the summer.

“Open field is good because we get to know the freshmen and we get better during the drills,” Jones said. “High school is all about building relationships and getting to know the freshmen just adds to the chemistry.”

That’s not the only benefit, either. The sessions allow Courter to try out new drills and activities, which then can be done during practices in the fall.

“We put in two new drills today that we haven’t run before,” Courter said last Tuesday. “We called one the chaos drill and we ran what’s called a triangle drill. We have done variations of it before. Now, when August comes around, we will be able to say, ‘Hey, get set up for the drill.’ And we’ll have that familiarity.”

So far during the summer, Courter said he’s seen an average of about 18 players attend the open field sessions and has seen as many as 20. Many of the older, more seasoned players play with their travel teams in the summer, so the majority of those who participate are underclassmen.

This year’s freshmen class is the first to be able to practice on the new turf field, which the team will play on during the regular season for the first time in 2024.

“It’s really nice to have this field because it adds excitement because everything is new,” Jones said. “This is the first year we are having this stuff. Everything is exciting and new for the incoming freshmen. We don’t have to worry about the dirt or anything like that.”
 
The Eagles also now have a nice, new facility that Courter calls “The Barn.” It’s a building just outside of the softball field to allow the players to practice indoors.

In The Barn, there are two full-length batting cages where the team can hook up pitching machines. The facility is also big enough to allow the team to pull the batting cages nets back toward the outer walls, so the players can practice fielding ground balls or allow them to get in bullpen sessions.

The Barn has been beneficial, especially on days when it’s raining, or the temperatures are high.

“We have fans in there and we can open up the garage door which creates a nice wind tunnel,” Courter said of The Barn. “It’s stays cool for the most part. I have had other coaches tell us they are jealous of our new facility. We also have lockers in there where the girls can put their stuff in, and we can have team meetings in there.”


Correction: Name correction for Ellarae Hay. 6/27/2024 1:29pm
 
 

Freshman Ellarae Hay fields a ground ball while Faithlyn George runs toward home plate during a fielding drill during the Grain Valley softball team's open field session last Tuesday. Photo credit: Michael Smith