Perhaps no prep sports team in Alaska expects as much of itself as the East softball program -- and manager Paul Schoenborn knows it.
"We'll be disappointed if we didn't win it again," Schoenborn said following East's 11-2 win over Service on Wednesday at Albrecht Fields.
The "it" Schoenborn is talking about is the large schools state title, which the T-birds have won three straight times in overpowering fashion. They've been one of the state's historically dominant teams during that stretch, and improved their record to 81-1 over the past four seasons with season-opening wins over Service and Chugiak on Wednesday. After losing just two players from last year's undefeated squad, Schoenborn said he thinks the T-birds have the players to continue their reign atop the Cook Inlet Conference and Alaska prep softball.
"This team has the talent to do it," he said.
On Wednesday against Service, East showed off its impressive offensive arsenal from the outset. The first six T-birds batters scored in the first inning as East built a 7-0 lead after one. The onslaught continued in the second as East sent 10 batters to the plate while building an 11-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Sierra Rosenzweig finished 2-3 with a pair of doubles and a run batted in to lead a balanced East attack.
While East appears set offensively, the T-birds will have to adapt to a new starting pitcher in freshman Daisy Page, who Schoenborn said will be taking over for Sydney Smith, who graduated after a stellar career that included 505 strikeouts over four seasons. Page -- the younger sister of East shortstop and Division I signee Taria Page -- looked up to the challenge Wednesday, giving up just one hit and striking out three in three innings of work.
"It's always nice to start out with a win," Schoenborn said.
The younger Page was the star of East's win in the nightcap on Wednesday, delivering a no-hitter to lead her team to a 2-0 victory. Taria Page and Alexis Joubert scored runs for East, which was held to five hits.
The biggest challenge facing the East this season, Schoenborn said, might be the T-birds themselves. His job will be to keep his players from getting down on themselves when things go wrong and to remain focused on the ultimate goal without getting over confident.
"The hardest thing is to keep them motivated," he said.
Schoenborn said he expects East's biggest challenges to come from some of the usual suspects in the CIC, including West, South and Chugiak. One difference between this season and others, he said, has been the ability of teams to practice outdoors earlier than usual. For the first time in about a decade, Schoenborn said teams were able to schedule a "bat-around" session of exhibition games before the scheduled start of the regular season. That's almost unprecedented for this time of year, he said.
"There's been times we've still had snow on the ground," he said.
Standing in the bright sunshine after his team's season-opening win, Schoenborn said the early-season weather has been a boon to softball players used to sloppy spring conditions.
"This is great," he said.
South 27, Eagle River 0
South pitchers Rachel White, Danni Desjarlais and Maddie Webster combined for a no-hit shutout as South opened its season with a 27-0 thumping of Eagle River on Wednesday at Albrecht Fields. The trio racked up seven strikeouts in three innings of work.
Tristan Tolan had a home run and 5 RBIs to lead the Wolverines' offensive attack, which pounded 19 hits, including two each from White, Desjarlais, Leilani Blair and Taylor Lawson.
Service 4, Bartlett 1
Keaira Caldarera gave up one hit to lead Service to a 4-1 softball win over Bartlett on Wednesday at Koskinski. Caldarera didn't allow an earned run and struck out seven batters in five innings of work.
Sophie Bethke was 1-for-1 with a double to lead the Service offense.