INDIAN SOFTBALL TEAM HAS MUCH RETURNING, BUT ALSO HAS SOME NEW FACES IN KEY PLACES FOR 2000

The 2000 Waukon Indian softball team will return nearly its entire squad from last season, but there are also several new faces in key places for the Tribe diamond dwellers this year. Most notably, Jim Mauss takes over the head coaching duties of this year's club, and his first task will be to fill the two holes in the Indian line-up left vacant by graduation last year.
A New Albin native, Mauss is a 1997 graduate of Kee High School, where he was a four-sport athlete for the Kee Hawks in football, basketball, track and baseball. He earned All-District honors in football and was an All-Conference performer for Kee High in both basketball and baseball. He recently completed his junior year at Loras College in Dubuque, where he continues to play both football and baseball for the Duhawks.
This will be his first head coaching job above the Little League level, where he coached in the New Albin program for four years, but he is excited about the challenge this new position brings. "I wanted a coaching job this summer, and after I had heard about it and interviewed for it, (Waukon Senior High School Principal and Athletic Director) Pat Heiderscheit offered it to me," Coach Mauss said. "Our main goal will be to improve together each day and play consistent softball. That will allow our other goals to fall into place for us."
With eight of ten starters returning from last year's club that compiled a 25-15 record before being eliminated from postseason play by Waterloo Columbus in the first round of regional tournament play, Coach Mauss has an abundance of experience to work with. It's that veteran experience that has made his initial venture into coaching high school softball somewhat easier than he originally anticipated.
"I thought it was going to be a lot tougher than it has been," he said. "But, these girls have been pretty well prepared, and having someone like Coach (Steve) Paul around makes it a lot easier. Coach Paul has been here for a long time and he knows the system."
The Indians return nine letterwinners from last season's club, including eight who were consistent starters in the Tribe's line-up last year. Leading the way will be a senior foursome with multiple years of varsity experience at their respective positions on the field.
The pitch/catch combination of seniors Kara Rea and Cassie Reinke will begin their third year together as the Tribe's battery. Rea will begin her fifth year on the mound for the varsity Tribe, being thrown into the varsity mix late in the 1996 season as an eighth grader. She sports a career record of 67-35, pitching 238 of the Indians' 281 innings of softball last season and posting an ERA of 0.88 on the way to a 23-11 record.
Reinke begins her third season behind the plate, where she has already been a two-time All-Conference performer. At the plate, she returns as one of the Tribe's leading offensive threats, driving in the second most runs for last year's club, 16 RBI ,and being the leading returnee in that category this season.
"Our pitching and catching should be our strong points this year," Coach Mauss said. "Those two have been together for the last couple seasons, so they know each other and work well together."
The remainder of the Indian infield definitely has all bases covered, as seniors Allison Blocker and Michelle Valley return for their third consecutive seasons at first and third base, respectively. Blocker brings back the second most hits and second highest batting average of all returnees from last year, while Valley has the keenest eye of all returnees with a team high 10 walks drawn last year.
Junior Crystal Magner will return for her second season at the number two bag, from where she shouldered much of the Tribe's bunt coverage last season. She returns with the second most runs scored and runs batted in of all of this year's veteran returnees.
The remaining shortstop position poses the biggest question for Coach Mauss, as five-year veteran Blair Young graduated last season, opening up a gaping hole in the Tribe's interior defense. Sophomore Shannon Rumph and freshman Jessie Snitker are both being looked to for help in filling that hole.
"Our infield defense should be pretty good," Coach Mauss said. "All the girls that are returning to their positions this year should know their roles. Once we get a shortstop figured out, we should be pretty solid."
The Indian outfield has a similar situation with the graduation of four-year veteran center fielder Dana DeBuhr. Junior left fielder Colleen Tierney and sophomore right fielder Shelby Nordheim both return to the outfield from first years of varsity experience there last year. The remaining outfield spot will be filled by one of two sophomore candidates, Jaime Welch or Megan Cahoon.
"We have two of our three outfielders returning, and we have two pretty good candidates to fill our open spot out there," Coach Mauss said. "Just which field our outfielders will be playing in is up in the air right now. We may have to move some of our veterans around out there to get the best fit."
Nordheim returns as the Tribe's greatest offensive threat this year. Her .264 batting average, 37 hits, 28 runs scored and six stolen bases are all tops among the list of returnees this year. With the graduation of Young and DeBuhr, the Tribe will have to replace its top two offensive performers from last season, both girls hitting over .320 last season with a team high 43 hits each. Young also led the team with 21 RBI and DeBuhr shared scoring honors with Nordheim with 28 runs.
Sophomore Jennifer Evanson has sewn up the designated hitting duties for the Tribe this season. As a first-year varsity freshman last season, Evanson batted .224, with 13 hits, eight RBI and seven runs scored in just 58 at-bats in that role.
Completing the list of returning letterwinners, both Evanson and junior Vickyann Venes may be looked to for help with pitching duties this year. Both logged double-digit innings for the varsity Indians on the mound last season, Evanson posting a 2-2 record and Venes a mark of 0-1 in limited action.
The early season practices have pinpointed some areas that need to be fine-tuned before the Indians take the field for their first game. "We need to work on getting our situations down just right, first to third, and those kinds of things," Coach Mauss said. "We'll also need to get our relay system ironed out, whose covering the bag and whose cutting the throw. That will all happen as we get deeper and deeper into the season."
Those details that need to be sharpened to perfection are all just part of the new coach's overall softball philosophy. "I want us to be aggressive on offense and solid on defense," he said. "We should be able to make the routine plays, but also be capable of coming up with the big plays to help us win ballgames. We want to put the ball in play, and we'll run aggressively on the basepaths. We want to put the pressure on the other team. The ultimate goal of this team is to play consistently and make it to Fort Dodge."
The Indians will begin that quest Tuesday, May 30 with a season-opening date at Postville and will then play a varsity doubleheader at Independence Thursday, June 1. The Tribe will then compete in the Charles City Tournament Saturday, June 3 before opening its home season Tuesday, June 6 by hosting Charles City.