The Struthers softball girls are starting a new off-season league starting November 3rd.
Mrs. Dubos has just taken the head coach position. This will be the girls first year having her as a coach.
The girls softball team usually doesn’t start the off-season until closer to January. However, since Dubos became the new coach, she is in the process of starting up a new culture for the sport. The girls have two open gyms a week for fielding and hitting, with pitching lessons in between. The players’ home field has been changed, thanks to Dubos, from Mauthe to the Struthers Baseball complex. The girls have received a bunch of new equipment including new bats, hitting T’s and pitching mounds.
Livia Waback, a junior player, is excited for the new opportunities.
“It feels a lot better. It feels like we get a clean slate with no favoritism and a chance to really earn our spots,” says Waback.
This will also be the first year the girls have the chance to play in a winter league to improve their skills for the upcoming season. The girls will play ten games in the span of ten weeks. They will play one game a week at Athletix in Columbiana. They will still have two open gyms a week on top of the games.
Waback is focused on the chance to become better as a collective.
“I think it’ll make the people who show up a lot better and get us more connected as a team before the season begins,” says Waback.
Coach Dubos has also brought in a whole new coaching staff, including assistant Bob Benson, assistant Travis Stocker and pitching coach Becca Landis. They all have the goal to make the girls better and give them more opportunities to better themselves. The coaches are focused on slowing down drills and helping them be the best players they can be.
Waback knows what she loves most about the sport.
“It gives me a purpose and something to succeed at other than school, and it makes me a better leader and less lazy,” says Waback.
