IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- Almost one year after the 2020 season was shut down in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ellsworth CC softball squad will begin the 2021 campaign in Kansas. The season opener will be against Johnson County CC on Mar. 6. And it will come after what has been an unconventional fall season and preseason to say the least.
"This year has been a challenge with all of our protocols for testing and social-distancing," said ECC head coach Nate Forsyth, who, as the college's athletic director, has also been immersed with the COVID challenges of all the Panther athletic teams. "Our softball team has made good progress with our fall and winter indoor practices. We have great buy-in from our players and coaches to meet and exceed our COVID protocols."
The Panthers had just defeated Kansas City Kansas CC, 6-2, with a season-high 13 hits last March when their season was short-circuited. In the 11 games they played ECC slugged 13 home runs, seven of them by then-freshman Gintare Paskociamaite, and had stolen 24 bases. That's a power-speed combination that Forsyth would like to see duplicated this season.
The head coach says, "I think versatility will be the strength of this team. We have a roster that is built around a lot of players that can play multiple positions. Our roster is very young with only four players that had experience last year." Those four with previous college softball experience include infielder Paskociamaite, third baseman/catcher Mya Mathes, outfielder/pitcher/first baseman Chloe Roberts and outfielder/first baseman Gwen Hovorka.
Paskociamaite was off to a fabulous start a year ago with a .559 batting average in addition to her seven homers, and she only fanned once in 34 at-bats. Mathes had a home run, and Roberts appeared in four games in the pitching circle.
Forsyth likes the makeup of his roster with 16 freshmen joining the four returners. "There is strength in numbers, we have 20 on the roster and will utilize them in each game," according to Forsyth. "Our pitching staff is young but talented so, as always, we will be as successful as our pitching staff allows us to be."
The '21 schedule has the Panthers facing a couple of Iowa Community College Athletic Conference ranked teams in region foes DMACC and Kirkwood, the traditional favorites in Region XI. ECC will also be tested by Division I power Indian Hills. And the pre-conference slate includes the opening games with a rated Johnson County as well as Kansas City Kansas, also ranked in the preseason. Ellsworth will take on Metropolitan CC in Kansas City, Missouri Mar. 13-14 and then begin its home schedule Mar. 17 when the Panthers face Marshalltown CC.
"We are very excited to get the opportunity to play this spring," Forsyth said. "We have worked very hard to get to this point and have made many sacrifices. Now, we just want to get out there and play!"