Sandpoint softball begins summer league scrimmage series

The 2019 softball season came and went in the blink of an eye, yet Sandpoint’s softball team has been working under the sunsets’ burnt orange glow and gentle hum of mosquitoes in order to do one thing: build a long-term softball program.

Like the program has done over the past five years, the Sandpoint softball team has been scheduling scrimmages against area teams during the summer, while the weather isn’t as harsh or unpredictable as it is in the spring. Just as the backdrop of these offseason games differs from the ones that make the sports section in the spring, the Bulldogs on the field for summer league are noticeably different.

These players are younger. The bulk of the players are incoming seventh, eighth and ninth graders with a smattering of upperclassmen to round out the roster. Yet the goals aren’t necessarily to win every game and get too complicated; as Sandpoint head coach Elizabeth Hawkins-Williams believes, these games are mostly to take advantage of the opportunities to play in good conditions, develop pitcher and catchers and to give every player opportunities to enjoy the sport.

“Summer season for me is really fun,” Hawkins-Williams said. “I like working with the younger girls and it’s a lot less stressful. We just play for fun.”

Playing for fun also involves playing by a slightly different set of rules. On Thursday against Troy (Montana), coaches agreed to limiting teams to five runs per inning, which not only sped up the pace of play, but also helped both teams cycle through their rosters in order to give everyone ample opportunities to play.

“[Summer] is also a way for me to develop relationships with the girls when they’re younger, so when they come into high school, they already know me and the other coaches,” Hawkins-Williams said. “They know the expectations we have. So when they come in, it makes them more comfortable for them ­— they already know all the drills we do — so it makes them more confident in their ability to succeed in high school.”

Sandpoint platooned everyone throughout Thursday afternoon’s doubleheader against Troy, cycling through pitchers, catchers and lineups so that every player could receive instruction from the coaching staff in quasi-game situations. Pitchers had to pitch out of jambs, work a strike zone — the games were umpired — and adjust on the fly when Plan A wasn’t working.

“[We’re] focusing a lot on pitcher and catcher development,” Hawkins-Williams said. “Those are the skill positions that you need to put more time into, so this is the time that we do take and start developing pitchers and catchers at a young age. If you start developing them in high school, it’s too late. We give them a couple innings each and focus on getting them time in the circle.”

The Bulldogs will play at Troy on Monday, July 15 at 5 p.m.

Their next home series is slated for Wednesday, July 24 against Rathdrum and Thompson Falls, Montana, starting at 4:45 p.m. at the fields behind Sandpoint Middle School.