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Coach: Adjustments will be key for LaBrae
Demetra Noble wants her LaBrae Vikings to figure out where Akron Manchester’s pitcher is living by the end of the first inning of today’s Division III regional softball semifinal.
She’s not referring to the girl’s address, but rather her location around the plate.
“We want to know what her pattern is,” Noble said. “Does she go inside? Does she stay outside? Does she have a changeup? Do we go to the front of the plate, or do we go to the back?
“You have to understand everything about her. Whoever adjusts to the other team’s pitcher first will win this game.”
The Vikings (20-5) are making their second consecutive trip to the regional tournament in Massillon after beating Liberty (6-2), Garfield (4-0) and Champion (4-0) thus far in the tournament.
Last season LaBrae beat Ursuline in the regional semifinal, but lost to Columbia Station, which was the Associated Press No. 4 team in the state.
This year’s expectations were pretty clear.
“Win the league and then win district,” Noble said. “We hadn’t won the league since 2005, so that was pretty big for the girls.”
Because of weather complications, the Vikings didn’t play for a league title until after they had already won the district.
Better late than never.
Emily Dugan will start for LaBrae after cruising through a sectional final and two district games. She shut out her last two opponents and has experience pitching on this stage.
“She was there last year, so she knows how to handle it,” Noble said of her junior pitcher. “Here’s the thing with pitching. You can throw it 70 miles per hour, but if someone puts their bat out there it won’t matter.
You have to move the ball. When she spins it, it moves.”
The Vikings’ defense also has played a role in the last two shutout performances. Noble says Dugan has a lot of confidence in her teammates behind her, which allows the coach to stick with her pitcher.
“Our defense has been pretty solid,” Noble said. “I always tell [the pitchers] if you get them to hit it on the ground, you’ve done your job.”
As for her team’s opponent, Noble said she’s read a couple news articles on Manchester and has seen one of its pitchers and a position player in other leagues. Her research has yielded a team that struggled early this season, but has what their coach calls two No. 1s on the pitching staff.
Noble doesn’t anticipate any surprises — as long as the Vikings figure out where Manchester’s pitcher is living.
“I’m looking for us to adjust,” she said. “What I want to do right out of the gun is adjust to her. That’s going to be huge for us.”
First pitch is scheduled for today at 5 p.m. at Massillon High School.