Tough nonconference schedule preps LRSC softball for league play
In its third year as a program, the Lake Region State College softball team is still evolving.
Article by Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published March 31st, 2016.
In its third year as a program, the Lake Region State College softball team is still evolving. And for the third year in a row, the Royals made a spring trip to Arizona to see what level of play they need to set their standards to.
LRSC is 3-15 right now and has a doubleheader today against the University of Jamestown JV. But the Royals are hoping their tough nonconference schedule has prepared them for conference season beginning this weekend against Dakota County Technical College.
The Royals, who have players from five different states along with nine players from Canada, stacked its early season schedule to get plenty of time on the diamond as the weather warms in North Dakota.
"When you play nationally ranked teams who have 20-30 games in by the time we got there, we're playing against programs that have been established and against players who have played in that area," Royals head coach Kory Boehmer said. "Arizona is a hotbed for softball."
LRSC's last three games came in Minneapolis, where one of the games saw a 10-9 loss to DCTC. The Royals, playing in a soccer bubble, had the tying run on second with two outs and Jaimie Shaw hit one that would have been a home run, but it hit the ceiling, which is ruled an out in the bubble.
The Royals are looking for a different outcome this weekend.
"Right now we're optimistic heading into the conference season," Boehmer said. "If we play consistent and we pitch well, we'll be there for our conference championship. The teams are pretty well matched."
LRSC has a team batting average of .248 and an on base percentage of .308. Balance throughout the lineup is something Boehmer said will be key.
The Royals have one or two players who are hot in the batter's box one game. Then the next game, it's someone else hitting well.
After today, LRSC's next 12 of 18 games will be at home.
"I think that it will be fun to have people come out this weekend," Boehmer said. "We do have some home games coming up next week as well and hopefully we get some decent weather. It will be fun to see how well we do in conference now and how we match up with those teams."