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06-04-2007, 09:21 PM
Bauer power propels New Kent softball
By Norm Wood | nwood@dailypress.com (nwood@dailypress.com)
By early January, New Kent's Betsey Lane already had a good idea about who she was going to lean on to motivate her softball team heading into her first season as coach. Laura Bauer kept reminding her.
New Kent opens the Group AA state tournament quarterfinal game today at 5 p.m. against Fort Defiance. It will be New Kent's first appearance in the state tournament since 2003.
Poquoson, which lost 4-2 on Friday to New Kent in the Region I tournament championship game, also plays in the state quarterfinals today at 5 p.m. at Broad Run.
Bauer has been preparing for a moment like this one since winter, when most of her teammates were nowhere near pondering drag bunts and strike zones.
Lane, who also coaches New Kent's JV girls basketball team, saw a lot of Bauer during basketball season. Bauer showed up as a fan at games intent on having softball conversations with Lane.
"I noticed her enthusiasm during basketball season when she'd come up and talk to me," Lane said. "She always had (the start of softball tryouts) counted down to the day. She'd say something like, 'Only 47 days left until tryouts start.' She was ready."
Bauer's passion has never waned during the season. As New Kent's No. 3 or 4 batter in the order, she enters the state tournament with a .423 batting average, two home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBI. She has struck out just six times in 78 at-bats.
"I'm not swinging at bad pitches," said Bauer, a junior catcher who has a 4.10 grade point average and hopes to study marine biology at UNC-Wilmington or Coastal Carolina. "I've always had a good eye. Being a catcher, I've always had a pretty good idea about the strike zone."
Her prowess at the plate this season has only been outshone by her abilities behind it. Bauer has two errors and she also calls all of pitcher Becca Mills' pitches.
Mills, also a junior, has excelled this season with a 22-3 record, 0.43 earned run average and 198 strikeouts. She's the star of the team, but she knows it would've been tough to duplicate her success without Bauer.
"I think you have to want to be a catcher," said Mills, who has played softball with Bauer since they were both 12. "It has to be something you like, and she definitely likes it because you have something to do with every play. She's a big reason why we've been so good."
Bauer's days of playing against the boys had to help her train that keen eye and her overall knowledge of the game.
It's not uncommon for girls to play youth baseball in the formative years, when all kids are still learning coordination skills, but Bauer played in the Sandston and New Kent youth baseball leagues until she was 12.
Only one other girl – Taylor Newcomb, who is now a teammate of Bauer's at New Kent and one of the Trojans' team captains – played on Bauer's team when she was 12. Bauer played catcher, pitcher, first baseman and third baseman in the baseball leagues.
Of course, by the time she was 12, she was playing in youth softball leagues, too. She remembers one weekend when she played Saturday in a 12-and-under all-star youth baseball game, then moved Sunday to a Legends league softball tournament with the Richmond Diamonds.
All of those experiences have had a cumulative effect on Bauer's young ball-playing career. Reaching the state tournament is the latest achievement. She hopes winning the tournament is the next one.
"We've accomplished a lot this year," Bauer said. "A state championship would mean a lot, but without it, we've still had a good season. It would just be the perfect way to finish off the year."
By Norm Wood | nwood@dailypress.com (nwood@dailypress.com)
By early January, New Kent's Betsey Lane already had a good idea about who she was going to lean on to motivate her softball team heading into her first season as coach. Laura Bauer kept reminding her.
New Kent opens the Group AA state tournament quarterfinal game today at 5 p.m. against Fort Defiance. It will be New Kent's first appearance in the state tournament since 2003.
Poquoson, which lost 4-2 on Friday to New Kent in the Region I tournament championship game, also plays in the state quarterfinals today at 5 p.m. at Broad Run.
Bauer has been preparing for a moment like this one since winter, when most of her teammates were nowhere near pondering drag bunts and strike zones.
Lane, who also coaches New Kent's JV girls basketball team, saw a lot of Bauer during basketball season. Bauer showed up as a fan at games intent on having softball conversations with Lane.
"I noticed her enthusiasm during basketball season when she'd come up and talk to me," Lane said. "She always had (the start of softball tryouts) counted down to the day. She'd say something like, 'Only 47 days left until tryouts start.' She was ready."
Bauer's passion has never waned during the season. As New Kent's No. 3 or 4 batter in the order, she enters the state tournament with a .423 batting average, two home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBI. She has struck out just six times in 78 at-bats.
"I'm not swinging at bad pitches," said Bauer, a junior catcher who has a 4.10 grade point average and hopes to study marine biology at UNC-Wilmington or Coastal Carolina. "I've always had a good eye. Being a catcher, I've always had a pretty good idea about the strike zone."
Her prowess at the plate this season has only been outshone by her abilities behind it. Bauer has two errors and she also calls all of pitcher Becca Mills' pitches.
Mills, also a junior, has excelled this season with a 22-3 record, 0.43 earned run average and 198 strikeouts. She's the star of the team, but she knows it would've been tough to duplicate her success without Bauer.
"I think you have to want to be a catcher," said Mills, who has played softball with Bauer since they were both 12. "It has to be something you like, and she definitely likes it because you have something to do with every play. She's a big reason why we've been so good."
Bauer's days of playing against the boys had to help her train that keen eye and her overall knowledge of the game.
It's not uncommon for girls to play youth baseball in the formative years, when all kids are still learning coordination skills, but Bauer played in the Sandston and New Kent youth baseball leagues until she was 12.
Only one other girl – Taylor Newcomb, who is now a teammate of Bauer's at New Kent and one of the Trojans' team captains – played on Bauer's team when she was 12. Bauer played catcher, pitcher, first baseman and third baseman in the baseball leagues.
Of course, by the time she was 12, she was playing in youth softball leagues, too. She remembers one weekend when she played Saturday in a 12-and-under all-star youth baseball game, then moved Sunday to a Legends league softball tournament with the Richmond Diamonds.
All of those experiences have had a cumulative effect on Bauer's young ball-playing career. Reaching the state tournament is the latest achievement. She hopes winning the tournament is the next one.
"We've accomplished a lot this year," Bauer said. "A state championship would mean a lot, but without it, we've still had a good season. It would just be the perfect way to finish off the year."