Fall prep sports preview: Battle Mountain softball takes off

Battle Mountain’s girls softball program is off and running.

What started with now senior Karly Woodbridge’s April 13 proposal to the Eagle County School District board — where she outlined plans for participation, coaching, scheduling and practice space as well as potential hurdles — has come full-circle: the Huskies have a girls softball team for the first time ever.

Heading into their inaugural season, head coach Allison Brost is hoping to “recognize and celebrate success and growth in ways other than the score of games.”

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“With so many players that don’t have a lot of playing experience, we are really focused on doing the little things right individually and as a team so that we can start putting the pieces together and feel more and more confident with every playing opportunity they have,” she stated.

Of the 10 seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores and two freshmen who make up the roster, Brost estimates 90% of the girls have little to no playing history. She’s relied upon the athletes with a lot of experience to bring others up to speed and “better the program as a whole.”

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“We are so glad that adding a girls fall sport has given more girls an opportunity to be involved in a team sport,” she said.

“That being said, we hope that more and more interest starts developing at the younger ages so our program keeps growing and becomes more successful in years to come.”

In its Aug. 12 debut, Battle Mountain fell to Vista PEAK Prep 15-2. Senior Holly Knauf was 2-for-3 from the plate and Lia Nowicki and Annya Chavira scored the program’s first two runs. The Huskies are back in action Friday, taking on Rifle at the Eagle Fairgrounds Sports Complex in their 4A Western Slope League opener. Palisade, Eagle Valley, Battle Mountain and Rifle make up the league.

No matter what the win-loss column ends up looking like, Brost is focused on retention.

“Process-wise, our main goal for this year is to keep bringing as many girls back to the program next year as we had this year,” she stated.

“We want every girl to walk away from the program this year feeling more confident in their skills and their knowledge of the game and feeling more confident, empowered and determined in other aspects of their lives.”

Thus far, she is impressed with athletes’ genuine interest in learning the game.

“The entire coaching staff is having a blast coaching because the girls are so coachable and want to be introduced to that higher level understanding of the game,” Brost said.

“I also love how tight knit our team is. Everyone is constantly supporting each other, keeping positive attitudes, and pushing each other to learn from mistakes and be the best players they can be.”

On Sept. 12, the Huskies will host Eagle Valley, which is off to a 2-1 start to the season. Brost is hoping to give the Devils “a run for their money.”

“We can only get better by matching ourselves up against teams that will challenge us mentally and physically,” she said.

“We take every game opportunity as a chance to learn from our mistakes and get better for the next game.”