Nine letterwinners return for 2015 from historical Kee softball season


Left to right - Front row: Makayla Walleser, Katie Brennan, Annabelle Dibert, Ellie Cooper, Claudia Mathis, Makayla Manning. Middle row: Meredith Gruber, Lily Winters, Nicole Vinson, Sydney Strong, Nicki Wood, Sierra Schobert, Michelle Walleser. Back row: Head Coach Liz Hill, Maddie Gruber, Courtney Cooper, Kendra Cooper, Chloe Severson, Val Meyer, Molly Walleser, Casey Welsh, Heather Mooney, Assistant Coach Tiffanie Peters. Photo courtesy of the Kee High School Yearbook.

by Val Meyer

As the 2015 Kee softball season approaches, the Lady Hawks are prepared to work hard and achieve their goals. Head coach Liz Hill and assistant coach Tiffanie Peters have been pushing their girls to work as hard as last season to get where the team was last year - a place where every other high school team in the entire state of Iowa would have loved to be: playing for a State Championship!
The momentum and energy has carried over to this upcoming season due to the 2014 squad finishing second in the state of Iowa in the Class 1A State Tournament. With an overall winning record of 34-10, the Hawks are excited to feed off the positive energy from that best softball season in school history and accomplish even larger goals this season.
This season, Coach Hill and Coach Peters will be coaching together for the fifth consecutive year, and both coaches are excited to see what becomes of the 2015 season.
The Lady Hawks have 22 girls combined on the junior varsity and varsity squads; losing three valuable seniors from last summer’s team, but adding seven new players to the 2015 team. There are nine returning letterwinners this year for the softball team. These veterans include the senior trio of Valerie Meyer, Nicole Vinson and Molly Walleser, junior Ellie Cooper, sophomore Courtney Cooper and freshmen Kendra Cooper, Annabelle Dibert, Chloe Severson and Nicki Wood.
“These nine letterwinners know what it takes to get to where they were last year, and everyone had a blast in the process,” Coach Hill stated. “I will look to these girls to help lead the younger and newer players to serious, yet fun and exciting softball.”
An abundance of statistical leadership will return within that list of high-level veterans. Kendra Cooper posted team highs of 67 hits, seven home runs, 47 runs batted in (RBI) and a .462 batting average last season. She was closely followed in second place by Courtney Cooper’s six home runs and Meyer’s .458 batting average and 40 RBI, with Ellie Cooper also returning a runner-up 48 runs scored.
The sister Cooper tandem of Kendra and Courtney also fired away for all of Kee’s pitching duties last season, Kendra returning a team-high 160-2/3 innings pitched with 172 strike-outs and an earned run average (ERA) of just 1.52 on her way to a 22-5 season record. Courtney posted 144 strike-outs in 97-2/3 innings on the mound enroute to a 2.29 ERA and a 12-5 mark in the circle.
Aside from the letterwinners, Coach Hill looks for all teammates to push each other to become the best. With the success from last year as a motivator, she feels that momentum will make this year’s team work even harder.
The strengths for this year’s team will be the dedication and leadership already shown by its members. The softball team started hitting in January of this year to prepare for the upcoming season. The weakness this year for Coach Hill and Coach Peters is trying to figure out a line-up that best works for the team due to the large amount of girls fighting for a varsity spot. The Hawks’ keys to a successful season are a team that works hard and plays well together.
From last season, there are three talented seniors lost to graduation, including center fielder Jordan Colsch, shortstop Kaylee Darling and catcher Ellie Heiderscheit. Darling and Heiderscheit took with them their own statistical leadership with 52 runs scored and a .983 fielding percentage, respectively.
In the season’s early going, both coaches notice that the energy level is high with an intense, competitive atmosphere. “Every position is up for grabs,” Coach Hill said. “All the girls have to work their way up to the position they wish to play.”
Coach Hill said that the goals for this year are the same as last year: become conference champions and make a State Tournament appearance. The Upper Iowa Conference will be tough, as always, but the Hawks are determined to fight for the first-place title.
“The team loved the support last season; it was incredible,” Coach Hill said of the community’s backing of the girls all the way to that Class 1A State Tournament Runner-up finish. “We all hope to see that same support at the new softball diamond this upcoming summer.”