North Dakota Preps

Softball season is almost upon us and brings some new teams in the Class B ranks, with 28 total teams competing. The regions have also changed a bit with two sub-regions for both the East and West. It appears that each of the team in the subregions will play each other twice with a handful of crossovers against teams from the other subregion. This will limit some of the long trips.

Also, Bishop Ryan has dropped down to Class B this year, giving the West another serious contender to the dominance of the east.

It's good to see this sport continue to expand, but seriously Carrington, Rugby, Lisbon, etc.. where are you guys? You would think that traditionally strong baseball schools would have started a softball team by now.

Last I heard, Carrington had a good group of girls interested in it for this spring but the school shot it down. I believe either Langdon or Rugby was looking into it (I can't remember which) for the future.

The common argument I've heard against it from some schools is, "What about our track program?"

Exactly right - a lot of schools worry about their track programs. But, schools like Hillsboro have record softball numbers AND thriving track programs. Northern Cass has good softball numbers, added golf and still have record track numbers. Kindred has strong golf and the top softball program. It's a lazy argument. BUT, it's hard to just startup a team. Take Larimore - they ended up with about a dozen girls out for softball and JUST hired a head coach. It takes two to tango.

For 2018, here are some storylines:

-Is West Fargo coming back to the pack? Or is the pack coming to them? Or neither?
-How sub-regions play out in Class B?
-Does Kindred have the best pitcher/team in the state regardless of class?
-When will the season start and how many games will teams play with Mother Nature doing her thing?
-Will the growth in team numbers continue to bring a growth in talent?

Looks to be a pretty exciting year.
On the Class B side, I think Casselton and Kindred-Richland are again ahead of the pack. However, there is plenty of depth.
In the east, you have three strong teams in the northeast. The southeast has two state favorites and three other teams with legitimate shots to make state.
The west is highlighted by some of the usual suspects. I think DLB is the favorite in the west. Minot Ryan brings a lot of tradition, if not tons of experience from last year, to the table. They should be right up there. In the southwest, Watford City and Heart River look to be among the favorites again.
It seems that there is more depth than usual statewide.
Does anyone have a chance to knock off Casselton or Kindred-Richland? It should be a fun season!

a question from someone in a region that has never had girls softball:

is pitch count a complete non-issue for softball? After the state tournament last year, the Forum had a story about the Kindred pitcher mentioning her sore arm after pitching 3 complete games. If I remember correctly, Central Cass started 3 different pitchers in the tournament. That seems to me like a much more complete 'team' than one that only throws one pitcher all the time.

I won't say it's a "non-issue" since muscle fatigue and normal wear and tear factors into it, but underhand pitching puts far less strain on the shoulder than a baseball pitching motion. No pitch counts and no inning limits.

The innings pitched leader in NCAA D1 has thrown 134.1 innings so far. The baseball leader has thrown 42.2.

It's pretty normal for a team to ride one pitcher in regions and in state. Almost all the Class A teams will operate that way. If a pitcher works to build up her legs and her stamina, she can throw an awful lot.

For fastpitch, pitchers take a very long time to develop, for most it takes several years of pitching to become real good. Last years's Central Cass team would be the odd one, having multiple good pitchers. Most teams have one good pitcher, some have two, and some don't have any.

Does anybody have fields that are without snow/ slush/ mush?

Guessing the opener on April 3rd will be a re-schedule/ cancel... and it this rate, a few more too.
(in the NE region)

Fields with turf should be ready (Shanley, Central Cass, Bismarck - at Legacy). The problem is going to be the temps. The highs that first full week of April still show largely in the 30s.

Apparently UND is playing a softball game at the Alerus Center this weekend. I may have to check it out - it'll be interesting to see the facility used/ configured that way.

So I guess there's a way to play softball this year if winter truly doesn't end. (for a small rental fee, of course)

STILL WAITING.

Kindred vs Central Cass April 26.... Can we assume that both teams will use their #1 starter for this game?

vikingman wrote:Kindred vs Central Cass April 26.... Can we assume that both teams will use their #1 starter for this game?

Did one or both of these teams not use their best pitcher in their first meeting in Casselton?

I'm assuming Klinnert is considered to be the top starter for Kindred, she didn't pitch until late in the game. Richter pitched for CC.

I thought Duchscherer was the best pitcher for Kindred.

Duchsherrer isn't listed in the team roster. McDonald pitched for Kindred, she's a freshman. Klinnert pitched all 3 games at last year's state tourney. I'm not a close follower of the team, so I'm assuming that Klinnert would be #1.

Just out of curiosity, what are the distances to the fences in Kost field and some of the other SB fields?

I'm curious what happened to the schedule and scores for 2018?

Bigbrew22 wrote:I'm curious what happened to the schedule and scores for 2018?

I'm sure it's a lot of work and it doesn't pay great either.

vikingman wrote:Duchsherrer isn't listed in the team roster. McDonald pitched for Kindred, she's a freshman. Klinnert pitched all 3 games at last year's state tourney. I'm not a close follower of the team, so I'm assuming that Klinnert would be #1.

Central Cass 7, Kindred 5 in 10 innings in Kindred tonite. (4-26-18)

I guess I should have stayed for more than 3 innings. How about someone giving a good scoring rundown for the game.

vikingman wrote:I guess I should have stayed for more than 3 innings. How about someone giving a good scoring rundown for the game.

from Central Cass' Facebook page
Central Cass Squirrel Softball
Josie Buhr’s 2 run double in the 10th led the Squirrels to a 7-5 victory over Kindred. Lexi Buhr had 16 Ks and Kenzie McKinnon had two home runs. Halie Holzer was 3-4.

Thanks, but still want more details. It was 0-0 after 3, so it must have been quite exciting from that point on. Did both starting pitchers go the distance?

vikingman wrote:Thanks, but still want more details. It was 0-0 after 3, so it must have been quite exciting from that point on. Did both starting pitchers go the distance?

The 10 o'clock news on WDAY identified the pitchers as Klinnert and Buhr. Buhr hit the game-winning RBI. I don't know if Buhr was the winning pitcher though.