Through injuries, St. Paul continues to progress

NORWALK — Progress is tough to see in the moment. But with a list of injuries that could at times fill out a lineup card, St. Paul softball coach Bob Wilhelm can see steps in the right direction. "We have four seniors, and two of them are battling injury, so there are some girls who are learning in a hurry, which is great," Wilhelm said. "They've responded well, and the bench has made some nice plays out there. "We're taking giant steps forward, which is great," he added. "We only have one freshman, and no junior varsity team really hurts, so we have to get those girls some experience. We feel like that's happening right now, and I'd like to think we'll make some noise in the Firelands Conference this year." St. Paul took a 2-2 overall record into Saturday's non-conference doubleheader at Sycamore Mohawk. The Flyers routed Port Clinton (17-2 in five innings) on March 27 and steadily pulled away from St. Mary Central Catholic (8-1) on March 30. St. Paul's losses were a 6-3 setback at Hopewell-Loudon on March 29 and an 11-10 setback vs. Tiffin Calvert on March 31. "We're running the gauntlet with eight games in the first 11 days, and then nine games in the 11 days after that — if we get them all in," Wilhelm said. "That's what's tough given everything else." Senior Marlaina Sowers is battling an injury and is playing exclusively at first base, while senior Morgan Baxter has been limited in pitching while playing shortstop as well. "Marlaina was going to help us in the circle, so if we had three pitchers it would be a lot easier," Wilhelm said. "Morgan is not 100 percent yet. She threw three innings against Hopewell and Calvert, but just got tired, so we're working around that." Junior Amelia Rospert is 100 percent healthy after battling injuries in the past, however, and it has showed in the early going. Rospert is 2-1 with a 2.58 ERA with 28 strikeouts and seven walks in 19 innings entering Saturday's games. "Amelia is just throwing really well," Wilhelm said. Karlie Rudolph was injured during volleyball and would have seen action, while Brook Houck and Maddie Jaworski suffered injuries from basketball and are also unavailable for the Flyers. Senior Mara Lesch and sophomore Klaire Hickey will handle the catching for St. Paul this season, with Hickey also seeing time at shortstop depending on who is in the circle. Sophomore Josalyn Vazquez is at second base and senior Sammy Lippert is at third base. Juniors Ava Caizzo and Presley Stang are in left and centerfield, while sophomore Elena Penner is in right field. Baxter is off to a scorching start at the plate, as she is 9-of-12 (.750) with a pair of doubles and seven RBI. Sowers is hitting .462 with five RBI, while Lippert is batting .417 with a pair of doubles and Vazquez is hitting .375. Junior Alaina Takacs, sophomore Molly Ridge and freshman Aubrey Penner round out the roster for Wilhelm. Asked the overall strength of the team, Wilhelm cited the team's softball IQ. "We've come a long way and have really worked on learning the game," he said. "All the ins and outs, all the managerial stuff that I have to do, the girls are starting to pick up and do it on their own. So they understand and they see and are buying into what we're trying to teach them. "We are also very athletic, and this is the first time we've had this much speed throughout the entire lineup," he added. "Speed kills in any sport, and that's hopefully going to help us out in the long run." Wilhelm is again assisted by Gary Gillen and his daughter, Dani Wilhelm. St. Paul has also made incremental jumps in each season since bottoming out at 3-22 (1-13 FC) in 2017. The Flyers were 7-14 (4-10 FC) in 2018 and 9-16 (5-9) in 2019, which included a competitive sectional championship loss to eventual Division IV regional finalist and FC rival Monroeville. "One of their goals is to contend for an FC title, we've never had one, and continue to try and make inroads in the postseason," Wilhelm said of his team. "For that to happen, they have to continue believing in themselves and be confident in themselves. "We've always been a team that has that one bad inning where the other team scores too many runs and we can't recover. We're trying to eliminate that, which is also one of their biggest goals. If they continue to progress with that and believe in themselves, we'll be fine." St. Paul 2021 schedule March 27: at Port Clinton (Won, 17-2) March 29: at Hopewell-Loudon (Lost, 6-3) March 30: vs. St. Mary C.C. (Won, 8-1) March 31: vs. Tiffin Calvert, (Lost, 11-10) April 3: at Mohawk (DH), 11 a.m. April 5: vs. Monroeville, 5 p.m. April 6: at Monroeville, 5 p.m. April 10: vs. Edison (DH), 11 a.m. April 12: vs. Crestview, 5 p.m. April 13: at Crestview, 5 p.m. April 15: vs. Danbury, 5 p.m. April 17: at Fremont SJCC (DH), 11 a.m. April 19: at New London, 5 p.m. April 20: vs. New London, 5 p.m. April 22: vs. Western Reserve, 5 p.m. April 23: at Western Reserve, 5 p.m. April 27: at Mapleton, 5 p.m. April 28: vs. Mapleton, 5 p.m. April 29: vs. Huron, 5 p.m. May 3: vs. South Central, 5 p.m. May 4: at South Central, 5 p.m. May 10: at Plymouth, 5 p.m. May 11: vs. Plymouth, 5 p.m.