May 27, 1999

Old Fort makes good first impression on Edgerton coach

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

Those that think it is virtually impossible to scout a softball team in just one sitting should try to present their case to Edgerton softball coach Dan Lehman.

He's only seen Old Fort play once, but that's enough for him. He's duly impressed.

Lehman made the trek to Old Fort May 21 and saw the Stockaders (23-5) hammer Lakota pitcher Ashley Lockmiller &emdash; who won 20 games this year &emdash; for 11 runs in the district championship game.

It made an impression on the first-year Edgerton coach.

"I was impressed all the way around," Lehman said. "Erin Rau is an extremely good pitcher. She makes it hard to put the ball in play. I hope that we can catch a break and take advantage of it."

The Stockaders and Bulldogs will meet at Findlay High School today in a Division III regional semifinal. The winner meets Colonel Crawford on Saturday for a ticket to the state semifinals. The Eagles beat Gibsonburg, 2-0 in 14 innings, with ace pitcher Lindsay Gervais striking out 24 Golden Bears.

"Offensively, one through nine, (Old Fort is) the best hitting team that we've seen," he said. "I've never seen a girls' team hit the ball the opposite way as well as they do. That's a tribute to coach Rau and the coaching job he's doing over there."

That's more than Rau can say for his counterpart. The Old Fort coach admits that the Bulldogs (15-5) are a virtual unknown in Stockader country. He's never seen them play and the two schools have never met on the softball diamond.

"I'm not really caught up in scouting anyway," the Old Fort coach said. "I know that if we play our game, we can play with anybody. If we put the ball in play and don't make mistakes, we'll be all right.

"I know he saw us play, and we played a real good game, so I don't know what he's going to tell his kids," he said. "I told my kids that I don't know much about them."

But Rau does know that the Bulldogs opened eyes with their district final victory over Fairview. Fairview is a team that frequents the state polls and was cruising along this year until Edgerton posted a 2-1 upset victory.

The final score there is an indication of the type of game the Bulldogs would like to play. Edgerton hits just .236 as a team, so it relies on defense and the pitching of Nikki Thiel.

Thiel is 13-4 with a 1.16 ERA, including 105 strikeouts in 120 2/3 innings pitched. Including the win over Fairview, she's won six consecutive decisions.

Thiel has done it without much help, offensively. Sophomore catcher Jan Herman (.343) is the only Bulldog hitting over .300.

Thiel (.288) hits leadoff, followed by sophomore shortstop Stefanie Weber (.218), Herman, sophomore right fielder Natalie Cannady (.268), junior first baseman Brittany Holbert (.196), sophomore second baseman Heather Balogh (.296), senior third baseman Tori Thiel (.167), freshman left fielder Lyndsi Witsaman (.162) and sophomore center fielder Lindsay Castor (.229).

"We have no big secrets," said Lehman, who came to Edgerton after coaching baseball at Hicksville. "The team is batting .236, so basically we rely on pitching and defense."

And bunting, too.

"We have to get our bunts down," he said. "If we get anyone on base, hopefully we can move them over and come up with a big hit. If we can't bunt, we're not going to win."

It's just the opposite with Stockaders. They specialize in big ball.

Old Fort has collected 65 extra-base hits this season and is hitting .342 as a team. Of the starting nine, just one hits below .300.

The leader of late has been sophomore Jenny Seigley, who has blossomed into one of the Midland Athletic League's premier hitters. Seigley is hitting .409 with four home runs. Last week she was 6-for-11 with two homers and two doubles.

Randi Whitman is hitting .396 and Julie Koch (.338), Heather Webb (.363), Erin Rau (.356), Rachel McCalla (.368), Rosie Ortiz (.353), Abby Kingsborough (.322) and Manda Jess (.300) are hitting .300 or better.

On the mound, Erin Rau is one of the best around. The all-Ohioan from a year ago is 17-2 this year with a 0.88 ERA.

If there's an edge to be found in experience, it goes to Old Fort. The Stockaders have seven girls, four starters, from a team that finished second in the state in 1997.

"When we beat Lakota, we won the district title, but it didn't even seem like it," coach Rau said. "The girls were pretty relaxed. This group just doesn't feel a lot of pressure.

"We lost that game at Northwood (on May 18), but it was one of those cases where it was time for the girls to lose one. They needed a wake-up call."