Feelings were mixed among players when Seton Catholic first announced the college preparatory high school would be starting a varsity fastpitch softball program ahead of the 2022 spring season.
For Seton Catholic students who had played softball elsewhere like Kailey Floyd (Battle Ground), Katy Kutch (Skyview), Gigi Redman (Prairie) and Annie Marichalar (Fort Vancouver), it meant leaving behind bigger, established programs and starting anew with the Class 1A Cougars.
Some weren’t sure what to expect when a mix of longtime players, newcomers and even a few eighth graders came together for the team’s first practice.
“We were all kind of a little nervous, but once we got there, we actually saw we can play ball, way more than I thought we could,” Floyd said. “We’ve been able to play pretty competitively. … I’ve been pleasantly surprised and I’m very, very hopeful for league play.”
Day one of practice was just five weeks ago. In the time since then, the Cougars have won four of their first six games and seen firsthand what the earliest stages of team-building looks like.
The process has required patience from everyone involved, from head coach Korey Kier, assistants Ku’ulei Siolo and Tania Redeau, and players, who have had to embrace change whether they were new to high school softball or joined from elsewhere.
Kier, a longtime baseball coach with stints at La Salle, Sunset, Mt. Hood Community College and most recently, baseball and football at Columbia River, reached out to a few soon-to-be Seton Catholic players after taking the job. He told them he appreciated their willingness to trust the new coaches, and promised a good season was ahead of them.
“To find out that this spring they’re going to play here, I feel like that’s a huge commitment and they should be celebrated for it,” Kier said.
Seton Catholic was supposed to play Washougal in its season opener at Fort Vancouver High School, its home field for this season, until the game was canceled.
Instead, the Cougars made the two-hour trek to Goldendale on a charter bus to play a doubleheader with just nine players. They had 13, but the four eighth graders have yet to play this season while the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association determines if they meet eligibility requirements.
The Cougars swept the doubleheader 12-1 and 15-0 behind shutdown efforts in the circle from Redman and Kutch.
More importantly, the team saw the road trip as a key moment in developing some chemistry after only a few weeks together.
“Our first time as a team, we’re bonding on this bus, we’re playing music, and if I think about when the team really started, it was that trip,” Kutch said. “That’s when it was like, this is happening, we’re going to play together and I feel like that was my moment, at least, for the team (starting).”
Players also picked up on a different feeling when returning to school.
Before, when a handful were playing softball at different schools, the experience was very much an individual one.
Now, they were sharing their accomplishments with the Seton Catholic community, and the enthusiasm is often reciprocated in the halls of the school.
“After practices or after something good happens, then you show up to school the next day and it’s announced and it’s a big deal at school,” Kutch said. “Whereas before it was like, ‘Hey, I heard you did this,’ but now it’s us as a community we’re accomplishing, and that’s really cool.”
The experience has also been rewarding for new players. Senior Shaelymae Kutch played the sport previously, though never for a high school team. She said she was on the fence about joining leading up to the first few practices.
Then, after talking with Redman, another senior, she was convinced. Looking back, she’s glad she made the choice she did.
“I love playing softball, I always have and just to be a part of a team my senior year, just to get back and start a new team at Seton, especially, it’s a lot of fun,” Shaelymae Kutch said. “I love it.”
The team is up to 12 players, with a few more late additions since Seton Catholic’s first doubleheader at Goldendale, according to Kier. For a small school like Seton Catholic, adding a player or two can be the difference between having substitutes or none at all for a game.
No matter the skill level, Kier said they’re happy to have anyone join, and hope they develop a love for the game in the process.
“I just want to maximize everything we’ve got, and if you’ve never played before, that’s OK because there’s a process we’re going to put you through,” Kier said. “And we’ve already made big strides.”
By the end of the season, players hope the progress they make is a step toward becoming a powerhouse program, one they can come back to someday and say proudly they were there for the start of it.
“I want us to be a really scary team, where other teams will be like, ‘Oh, Seton Catholic is coming by,’” Redman said. “I want that feeling to happen.”
Lofty goals for a brand new program, but they have to start somewhere.
