Bulldogs softball learned what worked

The Hampton-Dumont-Cal Bulldogs softball team went through some ups and downs during this past season according to head coach Kelsey Enslin. The Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 8-17 and won their Class 3A region 5 quarterfinal game against Garner Hayfield Ventura 5-3, before losing to Williamsburg 10-0 in the Class 3A region 5 semifinal. While the team did go through some ups and downs, Enslin said that she thinks the team can use the experience of this year to help the team take the next steps for next year.

“We only had one senior so the majority of our kids are coming back next year,” Enslin said. “We had a lot of movement within our team with positions, batting order, a lot of those things. But I feel like we can use last year as a season to help us pick up next season where we left off. So it was a big season of growing.”

With having a young team, Enslin said she thinks that the experience will help the team by giving them the knowledge of what the best fit is for the players.

“Most of our infielders played about every infield position,” Enslin said. Emma (Ott) started at third and she also played second and our ending short stop also played second and third. They just played a lot of different positions. So first, I hope that helped them understand their knowledge of the game and they will have automatically gained that. So next year we won’t have to go through that. “

Enslin said that by already knowing what the best fit for everyone is for next season that it will help them be more efficient with wins and losses next year.

Enslin said while the team did not have the record they would have liked, that the Bulldogs were competitive in the conference.

“We beat several teams in the conference and there were a couple like Webster City and Humboldt where we did not get those guys,” Enslin said. “Our conference is young so going back against them we want to be competitive in the conference and in the postseason. This was our third year where we had to go down and play the No. 1 or No. 2 team. So we are just looking to continue being competitive and we made it to the second round this year. You always want to have a long postseason.”

A positive for the team according to Enslin was the growth the team had over the season.

Our outfield had a lot of development,” Enslin said. “They moved around a little bit but our outfield was completely new this year and they grew a lot as they went.”

Enslin said that the Bulldogs do have to do some work on their hitting but that they also made progress this year. The team also saw progress in the speed of the team

“Some of our eighth graders contributed with speed,” Enslin said. “Addison Aalbers was fast in the outfield and looking at our infield like I said they played a lot of different positions which is hard but it also helps them gain knowledge of the game. Those are all positives.”

Teaghan Bird was a player who stood out to Enslin this year.

“Teaghan Bird was our center fielder, she was quick and efficient and caught most things that went out there,” Enslin said. “She ended up third team all-conference for us so that was a strength. Bunting and getting on base with her speed was really effective and we moved her over to the left hand side to bunt and that was really effective.”

Aspen Harlan was another player who stood out. As well as Madison Lindaman

“Harlan was third team all-conference and this is going to be her fifth season with us. So just her reliability and her knowledge of the game is really strong,” Enslin said. “Lindaman led the team in overall batting or was second and she always did a really good job of putting the ball in play for us and did a solid job of getting us runs.”

The team chemistry was also a positive as Enslin said the Bulldogs got along and had good team chemistry.

When it comes to the offseason, Enslin said that working on pitching is going to be something the team works on. Enslin also said that working on reducing errors will be another one of the areas the team works on.

“Our defense hurt us at times but now that we have settled into new positions a little bit and looking at next year cleaning up our defense, getting stronger and continuing to improve offensively as a team,” Enslin said. “Because no matter what you can’t win if you don’t score some runs. So looking at those components and just strengthening everything overall.”