Facing some of the best softball teams in Indiana, it’s important for a team near the middle of the pack to keep its head above water.
After picking up a fifth conference win on Friday night with an 11-6 victory over Valparaiso, the La Porte Slicers are staying afloat in the Duneland Athletic Conference. The goal is to be playing their best softball by the sectional, when the mantra becomes ‘survive and advance.’
“I say that the Duneland (Athletic) Conference is the toughest softball conference is the state,” La Porte head coach Bob Severs said. “We have the No. 1 ranked team, the No. 3 ranked team and the No. 5 ranked team and we have to play them all twice, and in the sectional. I would say there’s a lot of teams that would be happy to be (13-9); our girls worked hard, they don’t give up, they don’t back down from anybody.”
The Slicers proved their tenacity earlier in the week in a 4-0 loss at undefeated Crown Point. Despite the daunting task of facing an unbeaten team on the road, La Porte stepped up to the challenge and put pressure on the Bulldogs.
“I think we’re getting a lot out of our pitchers (and) I think our hitters are starting to come around," Severs said. "Our defense is solid and we just have to keep fighting and keep going. There have been some times in the past when we’ve beaten some very highly ranked teams in the sectional and what (our players) have to believe it that is can happen, that on any given day we can beat anybody. We can, and we’ve proven that we can.
“I’m very happy with our girls They work hard, they give it their complete effort all the time and they’re team players They care about each other, they care about what we’re doing and they want to be successful. They’re buying into what we’re saying and they’re doing everything possible to win ballgames. We intend to have another winning season this year and get as deep as possible into the postseason.”
Severs said the hardest part of improving over the course of the season is a lack of practice time. Especially this season, because the weather was so poor in the beginning, the schedule is full of games and makeups.
“The hard part is that we don’t practice very often. We’re playing a game every day this week and two on Saturday,” Severs said. “Every time it rains, whatever free day you have a game gets put into it. We had a practice about a week ago and said (that it) might be the last practice we have this year. It’s hard to get things corrected. You’ve sort of got to do it on the fly. I’m just hoping we can keep focused, keep believing in ourselves and continue to give it our all in all of the games that we play.”
Fortunately for Severs, he has an entire squadron worth of assistant coaches to help him. Mark Johnson, Paul Lindeman, Charlie Evans, Mandy Martin and Erin Foust provide additional guidance for the players, leading to improved performance that Severs hopes will lead his team deep into the postseason again.
“They’re putting their all into this and that’s important to the kids and important to the program,” Severs said. “We’ve got some really great assistant coaches.”