Edison softball players sharpen skills as travel ball team

PERKINS TWP. -- Some area high school softball teams are playing in scrimmages this summer. Some are conducting skills sessions. Some aren't doing anything. Then there's Edison. Most of Edison's varsity team is playing in midweek scrimmages against Sandusky Bay Conference opponents. But this squad is taking things a step further, getting together under the "Charger Nation" banner to play in travel ball tournaments. "It's my job to better the program and get it back to where it should be," Edison coach Troy Keegan said Tuesday after his team was eliminated in extra innings in the quarterfinals of a 16U tournament at Sports Force Parks. "I'm trying to bring the potential out of them, and if I have the time to do it, I'm going to do it." Charger Nation — high school teams cannot be affiliated with their schools in the summer — won a tournament in Toledo earlier this month and also played well at a college showcase in North Ridgeville. The team will take an 11-3 travel ball record into its last tourney July 10-12 at Berliner Park in Columbus. Keegan's 12U team — comprised of Edison and Huron students — also will be at that tourney. He said it's important to develop a cohesive unit after the Chargers lost a large senior class from their 2019 team. Edison would have had only one senior — Kaylee Ries — on this spring's team. "We lost seven seniors a couple years ago, and with COVID we didn't get a chance to play together this (spring)," Keegan said. "When we play summer ball together and play in the SBC, we're getting a lot more games in." By the time the team is finished later this month it will have played about 30 games. The Charger Nation squad includes four rising EHS seniors: Kayla Mancuso, Deana Blatnik, Danielle Blatnik and Lindsey Kowalski. Mallory Perkins, another rising senior, missed the 16U cutoff but plays on the Edison team that is scrimmaging SBC opponents. Rising junior Kira Appeman is pitching for Charger Nation along with Huron standout Kennedy Camp, the only non-Charger on the summer team and someone Keegan calls "a great asset to our team." Keegan said athletic center fielder Mancuso, Appeman and shortstop Reagan King all have the potential to play college softball. One young player who has picked up valuable reps this summer is rising sophomore Kalli Quillen, who has hit a couple home runs. She's catching for Charger Nation and will play in the outfield next spring. A couple 2019 graduates — Hannah Vitaz and Grace Houser — are helping coach. Vitaz is working with the 16U team while Houser is an assistant with the 12U team. "Those girls know the program very well," Keegan said. "They know all the defensive situations. I find myself wanting to go correct someone but I don't have to. They're on it." Keegan, who was a standout athlete at Sandusky High School and was inducted into the University of Toledo Athletic Hall of Fame 10 years ago after a stellar baseball career, now works as a police officer in Independence. His schedule offers him the flexibility to keep coaching. Next year will be his sixth as Edison's head coach. He led the Chargers to the Division III state semifinals in 2016. Keegan started the Lady 83 travel softball program several years ago and also has coached travel baseball. "I love it. I like to make these girls better," he said. "I have something to give back. Why not pass it along?" He is glad to see his players on the field after losing the spring sports season to the coronavirus. "This is what they love to do. When they opened it up they were eager; everyone was there early," he said. "They finally get out and get some exercise. "I think they're a lot better when they're around people and are able to interact. I think it's healthy for the mind, instead of just talking on a screen to people or on a phone. We're trying to make the best of it."