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After a very rainy beginning to the 2024 softball season with several games being cancelled or postponed, the Avon softball team will finally have their first game April 8th at Scotland. The next event for the team will be a softball tournament held in Avon Saturday, April 13th starting at 10 a.m. This year’s softball team is being coached by head coach Paul Kuhlman with Tom Pier and Christena Voigt as the assistant coaches. This is Paul’s second year of coaching the team. The team includes senior, Maddy Huitema. Juniors are Kaeli Wallinga, Ashley Tolsma, Macy Voigt, Karlie DeVries, and Kinley Doom. Abby Greschmann and Lexi Vanderlei are the two sophomores on the team. Freshmen team members include Charli Paulsen, Rilyn Thury and Jordyn Voigt. 8th grade team member is Pria Sesler. In the offseason, Pria Sesler and Jordyn Voigt attended a catcher’s camp. Pria and Macy Voigt play travel softball so they have been practicing over the winter months with their travel teams. Last season was a season of many ups and downs for the inaugural season of softball in South Dakota. The team had several injuries at key positions. For the most part, it was a very young team so as a coach it was fun to watch them grow. The team started to play some of their best softball at the end of the season. Coach Kuhlman was very proud of the team and how the girls battled through some adversity their first year. This season’s goals are to take one game at a time and improve a little bit each week. The team also hopes to get a better seeding position this year in the Sweet 16 in order to be able to make it to the state tournament. This year’s toughest and most intense games will be against Castlewood, Wagner and Bon Homme. Team leadership will come from Macy Voigt and Rilyn Thury in both hitting and pitching. Kinley Doom and Karli DeVries will be great additions to the team’s pitching depth. Kaeli Wallinga was really coming around at the plate last season so Coach Kuhlman expects that that will continue. Eighth grader, Pria Sesler, will give the team added depth in both the infield and hitting. Jordyn Voigt and Abby Gretschmann will be solid hitters and help the team defensively. Ashley Tolsma will provide enthusiasm for the team as well as great batting. Everyone will be finding some playing time, so as a team they are really excited about this group of girls. As the head coach, Kuhlman is looking forward to better weather. He is very excited to get to coach this year’s team. They have been dedicated to coming to practice and working on their skills. Coach Kuhlman wants them to be competitive, but also enjoy the game. Softball can be difficult, but he hopes to help the girls realize that failure is part of the learning process and given them some tools to help them be mentally tough. Kuhlman’s coaching philosophy on coaching and building a successful program is that as coaches they need to first love and respect the game of softball. The coaches need to be able to teach skills, compete, and have fun. Older girls need to be an example to younger girls on how to conduct yourself on and off the field. It is important to teach the girls to embrace hard and develop self-discipline to help them through the tough times. Coach Kuhlman would like to thank Tom and Christena for all of their help this year. A big thank you to Gregg Voigt, the team’s maintenance man who has been a huge help setting up the inside equipment. Joe and Dan from the Avon City have also been great to work with. Bridgette Muller has been the softball PA announcer and does a wonderful job. All of the community and school support has really helped strengthen the program. Coach Kuhlman is looking forward to the team’s first game and encourages anyone looking for a fun afternoon to come out and support the Avon Pirate softball team. Best of luck on your upcoming season Lady Pirates!