The Roland-Story softball program went through a rebuilding phase in 2023.
The Norse had to replace three valuable seniors that led the team to 24-9 and 20-10 records the past two seasons in the long-time battery tandem of pitcher Madison Geise and catcher Macy Friest along with shortstop Ally Ringsby. The result of having to reload at three of the most important positions with younger, less-experienced players was inconsistency throughout the season.
“The girls all improved as the season went on and weathered all of the challenges together,” said Roland-Story coach Amber Doyle. “They were called up on to fight their way out of a lot of situations and they almost always did. A lot of our wins came from hard-fought games and a lot of our losses, as well, whether the score reflected that or not .”
Roland-Story finished 12-19 in 2023. The Norse tied Perry for fourth place out of eight teams in the Heart of Iowa Conference with a 7-7 conference mark.
Six of Roland-Story’s losses came by three or fewer runs.
Roland-Story’s best stretch of play came at the beginning of June. After a 2-4 start the Norse won four straight by defeating South Hamilton (16-4), Prairie City-Monroe (4-2), Class 1A power Collins-Maxwell (9-6) and West Marshall (7-6) .
The Norse lost three of their next 10 games, finishing with an 8-3 loss to Des Moines Roosevelt on June 20 in Roland. Then they won three of their next five games by defeating South Hamilton (16-10), AGWSR (8-7), losing to PCM (10-3) and 1A top-10 team Clarksville (8-3) then downing West Marshall (11-7).
“I think the last week we had settled into the best version of ourselves,” said Doyle. “Although we lost to Des Moines Roosevelt, I thought that was some of the most consistent and solid play we’d had for most of the year against a team that we knew would come in stronger than us. But it felt like all game that we gave ourselves a chance. We had been building through our challenging schedule all summer.”
Roland-Story dropped its final two games of the regular season to South Hardin (7-5) and 4A school Ballard (8-2). The Norse fell to No. 12 Albia in the 3A Region 2 quarterfinals, 13-1 in three innings, to end their season.
“We were playing decent softball and about .500 going into the toughest part of our season, and unfortunately lost our senior third baseman, Lydia Oetker,” said Doyle. “That made it a little more daunting for us, losing her from the hitting line up, as well as moving Alynn (Solberg) in from left field to take over duties there (at third). We were young on the mound and all three of our pitchers improved as the season went on, but you just can’t give kids experience, it takes time to develop it. They’ll all three be stronger for next year. We were all growing together and the kids kept doing their best to fight for each other.”
For the season, Roland-Story scored 176 runs and hit .290 as a team with 34 doubles, four triples, one home run, 74 walks and 62 steals. The Norse gave up 222 runs and had a pitching staff ERA of 5.84 with 115 strikeouts and 76 walks in 179 2/3 innings along with a 92.4% fielding average.
All-State center fielder Reagan Faber was the driving force behind Roland-Story’s success on offense and an elite fielder in the outfield.
Faber hit .511 with five doubles, one triple, 48 runs, 23 walks and 13 RBIs from the leadoff spot. She stole 28 bases in 29 attempts and made just one error with three assists in 33 chances in the outfield.
“Reagan Faber did a fantastic job in the leadoff spot,” said Doyle. “(She) led us, as well as the conference, in several offensive categories and finished 16th in the state in on-base percentage.”
Kayley Birkland stepped up to have a big senior year at second base for the Norse. Birkland hit .333 with six doubles, one triple, 20 runs and 31 RBIs and she only made five errors in 82 chances on defense.
“Kayley Birkland drove in our runs,” said Doyle. “(She) led our team in RBIs and tied for third in our conference.”
Solberg came on as a big weapon late in the season. She hit .341 with three doubles, one homer, 23 runs and 22 RBIs and made 27 assists and 22 putouts in the field defensively.
“Alynn Solberg eventually landed in the two spot for us and ended on a hot streak,” said Doyle. “(She) finished her season with our third-highest batting average and second-most runs scored.”
Oetker hit .260 with four doubles and 12 RBIs before her season ended. She only made five errors in 64 chances at third base.
The other varsity regulars for Roland-Story were sophomore catcher Peyton Jeter, sophomore pitchers Alyssa Jones and Addy Sabatino, eighth-graders Miley Geise and Brookelyn Jondle, senior infielder Corryn Padget and sophomores Eva Cochran and Kate Berggren.
Jeter hit .280 with 13 RBIs and she threw out six runners. Jones tallied a .247 average with five doubles, 15 runs and 25 RBIs, Geise hit .300 with eight doubles, one triple and 17 RBIs and Jondle posted a .244 average with a triple and 21 runs.
Padget finished with a .208 average, eight RBIs and just 10 errors in 226 chances. Cochran scored four runs and drove in three and Berggren scored seven times.
Josie Ramus added three hits and five runs and senior Madi Bauer was a valuable addition as a courtesy runner — finishing with six steals and eight runs.
Sabatino threw 79 1/3 innings and Jones 78 1/3 as the top Norse pitchers. Sabatino was 5-14 with a 6.26 ERA, 54 strikeouts and 36 walks and Jones 5-4 with a 5.18 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Geise went 1-1 with a 6.68 ERA in 22 innings. She struck out 14 and walked 21.
Losing Faber, Birkland and Solberg will be a big blow for Roland-Story. The Norse will also miss what Oetker, Padget and Bauer brought to the table.
But with more experience on the mound and at other key positions Roland-Story will have the chance to contend for a winning record in 2024.
“The returning players know that it will be challenging to rebuild our hitting lineup,” said Doyle. “We did a lot of work this summer trying to prepare us for losing five seniors off the field and I think the defense will figure it out. We will be looking to our pitchers to take a jump next summer and I am confident they will put in the work and look different with a full year of varsity pitching under their belts.”
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Young Roland-Story softball team spent 2023 building for the future