By ASHLEY MOOR
Editorial Intern
Courtesy of the Record Herald; Printed 5.12.13
TIPP CITY – The Tippecanoe Middle School Softball Club Team just completed the most successful season since the program began in 2007. Beween April 2 and May 4, they played 22 games with 17 wins and only 5 losses. The season saw multiple home runs and many personal accomplishments. This year, home runs were hit by Laura Fink, Maddie Gibler, Kaity Stocker, and Sierra Sutton.
The club plays other club teams and some sanctioned teams. This year they played teams from Troy, Miami East, Newton, Graham, Sidney, Covington, Brookville, West Milton, Bethel, Springboro, and Waynesville.
Scott Sutton is the coach of the Middle School Softball Club Team, along with Chris Shepherd and Todd Stocker. They emphasize that the team was not focused on winning – it was all about learning and becoming better softball players.
“Even though the team did very well this year, based on their record, it’s not really about winning. It’s about learning and getting better, and hopefully by the time they get to high school they can continue to support a very strong program built by Coach Tackett,” said Sutton.
Sutton also spoke of the improvement and leadership of the girls on the team.
“There was a lot of improvement by the team overall and a lot of good leadership by the eighth graders,” said Sutton.
This year the team had 15 girls; eight eighth graders, four seventh graders, and three sixth graders. There were girls on the team with all different skill levels.
“We had girls that had never played before make great defensive plays and hit great hits. We had a diving defensive play by second baseman Taylor Yeager that led to an out at first base after she threw the ball from her knees,” Suttton said.
The team practices at Broadway Elementary’s gym January through March. Tipp City Junior Baseball and Tipp Monroe Community Services allow a field at Kyle Park to be set aside for home games in April.
Coach Charles Tackett, from the high school, helps by scheduling the games with other teams in the area and also allowed the team to play a home game (double header) on the varsity field this year.
For more information, email tippmiddleschoolsoftball@gmail
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