By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – One of the – if not the youngest teams in Melinda Fischer’s 31-year softball coaching career at Illinois State – takes on a couple of monster teams Friday when it opens the season.
The Redbirds, with 15 underclassmen on their 20-player roster including nine freshmen, take on No. 2 nationally ranked Michigan at 10:45 a.m. before battling No. 1 defending national champion Florida at 5:45 p.m. in Tampa, Fla.
“It’s always been our philosophy to do that,” said Fischer of her scheduling philosophy. “We want to challenge our players to go against the best and be ready for everything by the time we get to the Valley conference season.
“We have an opportunity to learn a whole lot about ourselves as we start out. We have the opportunity to play some of the best programs in the country in the best facilities in the country.”
Junior outfielder Annie Heineman, a Normal Community West graduate and one of four team captains, said the Redbirds are excited to get going.
“It’s always fun to start with some of the top 25 teams,” she added. “We’re very young, but it’s been super fun to bring those nine new personalities in, work with them, get to know them and teach them the Redbird softball way.”
Heineman, an all-Missouri Valley Conference selection last year after leading the team in hitting (.356), hits (64) and stolen bases (11), will anchor a solid outfield and split time between center and right field. She will be joined by Payton Billups in left or center, while Kaitlyn Knary can play all three positions.
Preseason all-conference selection junior Jordan de los Reyes returns at catcher after leading the team in home runs and slugging percentage the last two years.
“I think we have a good mix,” said de los Reyes. “We have a lot of lefties in our lineup. We have power and speed, so I feel like we’ll be able to do it all offensively.”
The infield will be manned by sophomore Alex Caliva and freshmen Parker Bandy, Riley Hale, Jenna Stevens and Abby Turczyn.
“Versatility is a strength and youth is a strength as much as it can be,” said Fischer. “We have a lot of versatility within our youth. But with so many young players, I don’t know that there is going to be a set starting lineup. Obviously, there are certain people who have to be in our lineup.”
The Redbirds’ top pitcher will be senior Regan Romshek, who has a 42-42 career record and a 4.64 earned run average. Other pitchers, who will see action, are sophomore Sarah Finck and freshmen Shannon Felde and Ali Domkuski of Normal Community.
“We’ll have a combination of power and speed,” added Fischer. “We certainly have some power with Jordan and Regan returning in our lineup as well as (utility player) Riley Strandgard. We’ve seen some great power from some of our freshmen too.”
Romshek, a native of Gibson City, said consistency was a problem last year when the Redbirds compiled a 25-31 record.
“Last year in some games we were able to put together the offense and some games put together a good defense,” Romshek added. “If we can put it all together this year, I think we’ll do pretty well.”
The Redbirds were picked for a fifth place finish in the Valley preseason poll.
“I thought we could have gone anywhere between second and seventh,” said Fischer, who notched her 1,000 career coaching victory. “It just depends on how people view what you have returning, not necessarily what you did last year. I think the Valley is going to be a really tight race. Wichita State and Missouri State were your top one and two teams and then after that it’s really up for grabs.”
ISU plays its first 30 games on the road before opening the home season March 30 against DePaul.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
