Being voted as the 25th seed in the Division III National Softball Coaches Association Division and as the second ranked team in the North Coast Athletic Conference preseason poll is not a bad way for the Hiram Terriers softball team to begin their season. According to Coach Shannon Schaub, the Terriers are aspiring for more after appearing in the Division III College World Series Super Regional tournament last season.
“I think the hardest thing sometimes in athletics is getting programs to buy in to what it takes to be successful,” said the first-year coach. “Everybody has this dream that they want to be good, but it is the discipline, and it is the hard work and I will tell you that this team is hungry and they do not mind the four or five hour practices a day.”
Having only graduated one senior, Gieselle Bahena, Hiram returns eight seniors but also fields a freshman class consisting of 11 players to defend its run of being the NCAC tournament champions.
They will do so with a new coach, with Schaub taking over for former Coach Scott Pohlman, who is also Hiram’s Athletic Director. Schaub joins the Terriers after being the head coach at NCAC rival Wittenberg for the last five seasons.
After leading a rebuild of the Tigers’ softball program, Schaub inherits a team where the foundation has already been built and has set some huge expectations for this season.
“Hiram has always had this chip on their shoulder and have always had something to prove,” said Schaub. “They have always done it with a lot of confidence and excitement.”
Having won the NCAC tournament in three of the last four years, the Terriers made history last season when they advanced to the Division III College World Series Super Regional for the first time in school history.
With a big senior class returning, experience is on Hiram’s side.
“Looking at now what they lost and what they gained from that experience from that person, Giselle, I now have eight seniors that had a great role model the last few years but now having eight senior is huge,” noted Schaub.
Hiram’s standout returnees consist of senior right fielder Abriana Schwartz, who batted .286/.420/.313 in 41 games, and senior first baseman/pitcher Angel Santellan, who posted a 2.29 ERA through 39.2 innings pitched and hit .308/.369/.348 in 42 games last year.
Although the Terriers only have two juniors, Schuab said they are two important pieces of the equation with utility player/pitcher Darian Kanno returning after hurling a 1.56 ERA and striking out 100 batters across 112.0 innings while batting .403/.676/.444 in 43 games.
Hiram’s other junior is shortstop Fayth Kawamura, who returns after posting a .312/.406/.379 slash line in 43 games.
“Fayth and Darian are both juniors,” Schaub added. “Those are my two juniors so what is exciting is that I know they are going to have standout years but then I also get them back for another year so that is really exciting.”
In addition to having a lot of experience returning, the Terriers intend to wreak havoc on the base paths. According to Schaub, the team has set a goal of recording 99 stolen bases this season.
“The biggest thing getting them to understand is no matter how fast you can run from home to first, it is about being aware of the situation and getting those quick jumps and looking at different ways to steal bases whether it is reading a catcher or reading a ball in the dirt,” she said.
Despite having a large group of returning players, Schaub acknowledged Hiram’s depth will be tested with only three sophomores and 11 freshmen on the squad.
She said that she plans to ensure the freshmen receive valuable playing time this season to prepare themselves to contribute in future years. Schaub added she could already see several freshmen playing important roles for Hiram this season.
“We have two catchers that are learning from Viviana Macias,” said Schaub. “We have a freshman in the pitching circle, she is going to be pitching a decent amount for us. Her name is Hope Sizemore, and she is a kid that is going to be giving us a lot of innings and she will be able to take that pressure off of Angel, Darian and Trinity Meza, so I am excited for Hope to do well. The freshmen class will bring kind of a little bit of everything.”
In addition to wanting to defend their NCAC tournament championship run and making a deeper postseason run, Hiram also wants to snag the elusive regular season conference banner, which DePauw has consistently won in the last several years.
“They are super hungry,” Schaub said. “It is one thing that they have not been able to accomplish, and it is something in the back of their minds. I have heard it time and time again when the girls sit down and talk about their goals as a team. We want to go into this conference from the start and not allow teams to hang with us.”
After starting their season 0-2 by losing a double-header against Penn State-Behrend and Husson University on Sunday, Hiram fell to 0-3 by losing to Mount Union University but rebounded by defeating Regis University to improve to 1-3 on Sunday.
After opening their season in Florida this week, the Terriers will return to action when they hit the road and face Westminster College in a double-header on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and will play a double-header against Penn State Behrend on Sunday in beginning at 1 p.m.
