Varsity roster turns over to young, talented lineup
The coming of spring means the start of another high school softball campaign for the Cloverdale Lady Eagles, a local rite of passage that is steeped in both excitement and tradition.
The Eagles are coming off a sensational 2016 season that featured an overall record of 20-4 and ended in a climactic trip to the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs, falling to St. Joseph’s of Notre Dame in a 1-0, 10-inning thriller.
Cloverdale graduated six starters from that squad, most notably four-year star pitcher Teanne Edens and all-leaguers Jordyn Turner and Bailey Creager to name a few, but may not skip a beat if all goes as planned this year.
Head coach Margaret Fitzgerald and her veteran staff of pitching coach Pat Fitzgerald, base coach Cheryl Turner and the aforementioned Creager return to lead a relatively young team that is long on talent and hungry to establish its own identity.
“We obviously lost some great four-year players (to graduation) but we’re pretty excited about the young team we have this year,” assistant coach Pat Fitzgerald reported. “If the girls work hard on the defensive side we should be very competitive.”
The Eagles return a nucleus of four players from 2016, including junior outfielder Hannah Bereschi, sophomore infielder Nicky Martinez, outfielder Heather Sterling and outfielder Aly Bernal. Senior infielder Josie Marrufo returns after sitting out last season.
The list of talented varsity newcomers starts with freshman pitcher Tehya Bird, a tremendous talent who has already verbally committed to attend the University of Oregon after graduation. Bird spent much of last summer pitching on high level “A Ball” travel teams and seems poised for a dominant 2017 season.
Joining her on the Eagles’ roster are first-year varsity players senior outfielder Emily Harris, junior outfielder Stevie Silva, sophomore outfielder Emma Adams, junior infielder Alma Beltran, sophomore outfielder Angelina Campos and freshmen Yunven Sanchez (outfielder) and catcher/infielder Lane Hughes.
Cloverdale had a string of three straight league pennants snapped last year to finish one game back of NCL-1 champion Clear Lake, but the Eagles figure to be back in the title hunt if things shake out as planned.
“Our pitching should keep us in most games and it’s a matter of getting the kids to play good ball defensively,” Pat Fitzgerald said. “If the girls work hard and continue to get better we should be very competitive.”
Scheduling notes
The Eagles opened the preseason schedule on March 7 (after press time) against visiting Laytonville and will host St. Vincent on Friday, March 10 in a 3:30 p.m. start. Cloverdale will hit the road next week for away games at Calistoga (Tuesday, March 14, 4 p.m.) and College Prep of Oakland (March 15, 4 p.m.).
