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Irondale pitcher leads with her heart for breakthrough season

By Star Tribune, 04/22/14, 8:16PM CDT

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This is the spring, Irondale pitcher Maggie Schley said, when the Knights plan to make their postseason dreams become reality.

This is the spring, Irondale softball pitcher Maggie Schley said, when the Knights plan to make their postseason dreams become reality.

Schley, a junior in her third season as a full-time varsity pitcher, is part of a veteran corps that includes Brittney Frenette (second base), Amy Irving (first base), Delaney Kohler (center field), Megan Montero (right field) and Veronica Wold (shortstop).

The Knights won back-to-back North Suburban Conference championships. But last season they stumbled in the playoffs. A 10-0 thrashing at the hands of Maple Grove knocked Irondale into the loser’s bracket.

Schley spoke with Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque about bonding with teammates, unfinished business with Maple Grove and relearning her craft in the offseason.

 

Q: How long have you been playing softball and when did it become your primary sport?

A: I’ve been playing softball for about 10 years. I tried other sports, but I just hated them. I just loved softball and I met my best friend while playing — Veronica Wold, our shortstop.

 

Q: You’ve won back-to-back North Suburban Conference championships but you’ve yet to make a deep playoff run. What are the expectations this year?

A: Last year there was one team that held us back in sections — Maple Grove. We’d all like to get back and beat them and show them what we can do. They are tough, but we’re tough, too.

 

Q: What is it about this group that helped take the program to new heights?

A: Most of us have been playing together for a while. So trusting in your teammates wasn’t really hard. We’re all good kids, we play well together and we all love the sport. And coach [Heather] Hyatt works at the school so most of the team hangs out in her room between almost every class.

 

Q: I’m curious to get your take on Coach Hyatt’s assessment of your team. She said this isn’t the most overly talented team but one that makes plays well. Is that fair?

A: Oh, it’s completely fair. This year we had a personal trainer come in and she did speed and agility stuff with us. As we were doing a workout, our assistant coach, Cassie Schlangen, says, ‘Is Maple Grove working this hard right now?’ We all screamed, ‘No!’ at her.

We may not play on all these club teams, but we have the motivation to win. We all have it in our hearts that we want to get there. We want everything for each other.

 

Q: What did you do in the offseason to make yourself a better pitcher this spring?

A: This winter my pitching coaches, Jim Berbee and Jake Whitney, said, ‘You need to change your motion because you’re losing power.’ I was really opposed to it because I loved that motion. I change my motion every year and I was really feeling this one. But they said, ‘Nope. It’s not going to work if you want to get faster.’ So I had to relearn everything.

 

Q: Where did you develop the mental toughness that serves you so well?

A: I think it’s definitely from my dad, Doug. He put me on the mound and we’ve spend thousands of hours working on softball. He would come out to the mound and say, ‘We don’t have another pitcher. You’re it.’ Another coach I had saw that I would get easily frustrated. He would tell me to close my eyes, swing my arms in front of me and let everything go. So it’s become easier for me to refocus and stay on point.

David La Vaque

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