The 2023 softball season at State Fair Community College will feature a new face, as the Lady Roadrunners welcome Michele Rupard as Head Coach. Rupard spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach for SFCC. She has a good idea of the type of softball that she would like to see her team play this season.
"We are going to have to grind to get some wins," said Rupard. "We will need everyone contributing to win games. We have a lot more talent than we've had in the past."
Rupard has been pleased with how this year's squad has looked in practice.
"Practices have been going well," said Rupard. "There is a lot of energy with our kids. Sometimes we almost have a little too much energy. It has been a lot of fun. Everyone comes in here ready to get better every day."
Coach Rupard believes that the leadership for this year's team will come from several different places throughout the roster.
"Kennidi Harris will be one of our leaders in the circle," said Rupard. "Tomi Lightle will be another one of our leaders in the clubhouse. We have a couple freshman who will step up and fill positions that we need. Charlee Reese will start a lot of games for us."
The Lady Roadrunners will spend parts of three weeks on the road to open the season. SFCC opens with a doubleheader against Independence Community College at Ballparks National on Saturday, February 25. The home portion of their schedule opens 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 18 with a doubleheader against Indian Hills Community College at Mandy Thomas Field.
"Kelsey Webb will be big for us both on the field and in the batter's box," said Rupard. "Jaelyn Winfrey will be a big part of our outfield. Makinzi Harris returns for us behind the plate. Paige Klinge is a newcomer who will share the catching duties with Makinzi. Freshman Samantha Picha will be big for us. Zoey DeHaas will be another impact player for us."
Kennidi Harris will lead the pitching staff along with freshman Charlee Reese. Sophomore Alexis Hughes is a pitcher that will provide opponents with a different look according to Coach Rupard. Freshman Grace VanDenburgh will give SFCC another look in the circle.
"Assistant Coach Madison Love has done a great job of figuring out what each pitcher does well and kind of expanding on it," said Rupard.
Coach Rupard has another newcome she is expecting big things from.
"Jocelyn Wolf will come in and help us in a hitting role," said Rupard. "She might also find herself some innings in the field as well."
SFCC will play a tough schedule packed with good competition throughout the season.
SFCC has a couple of goals that the team has set for the year.
"We want to be a .500 team this season," said Rupard. "We also want to have a 3.7 team grade point average. I believe that to accomplish these goals our team has to show up and put in the work both on the field and in the classroom. It is going to come down to managing the task at hand and finishing the job. Our kids know their roles and are on the same page headed into the season."
David Rohrbach SFCC Athletics