Softball: Lots of familiar faces back for Sterling

Even when things change in the Sterling softball program, they still remain somewhat the same.

A new coach is still a familiar face, as former assistant Donnie Dittmar takes over as head coach for Becki Edmondson, who guided the Golden Warriors to eight straight regional titles and a pair of state finals appearances in her eight-year second stint as head coach.

And Elizabeth Palumbo, who led the Warriors as a pitcher and slugger, is the only loss from the starting lineup as Sterling brings back nine players who started at times in 2022. That includes Sienna Stingley, who served as half of the 1-2 punch in the circle as a sophomore last season.

“I feel like since most of us all played together last season, it’s easier now to play together, since we already kind of know each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” senior Lauren Jacobs said. “I think we really just need to be loud and cheering each other on. Instead of criticizing each other, we should be more uplifting and positive.”

“We’re really confident this year,” senior Ellie Leigh added. “We lost Elizabeth Palumbo from last year, and she’s a big loss, but we still have Sienna and still have our pitching. It’ll be fun to see how the freshmen and the returning sophomores and juniors do. It’ll be fun.”

Dittmar has been an assistant for the last three seasons, as daughters Riley and Katie went through the program. Katie is a senior this season, and she and Leigh believe the comfort level with Dittmar will make this a smooth transition.

“Everybody is already really familiar with him and who he is as a person and as a coach. I obviously know him better than anybody out here does, and it’s really exciting that I get to play my last season with him as my coach,” Katie Dittmar said. “I’m just excited for him to be here, and I know a lot of other people are excited for him be here, and I think it’s benefitting our program in the best way, really. He’s really pushing really, really hard for us, so I’m excited about it.”

“Everybody knew who he was, and he took up the coaching role a lot last season with the outfielders, and just making sure they knew their job,” Leigh said. “So it’s nice to have his knowledge on the team. Becki is a loss, but we’re glad that Donnie stepped up and took the coach position.”

Donnie Dittmar also coached youth softball for several years, and has been a football assistant since 2001. Not only did he know a lot of these girls from growing up and playing softball with his daughters, but he’s seen their skills develop over the years.

“I knew most of these girls before they came up, so I know some of their abilities. My whole goal was to wipe the slate clean and start over, let everybody prove themselves to see where they’re going to fall in the lineup and in the field,” he said. “I’ve learned a little bit more about them, now that I’m more on a ‘I need to now everything about them’ basis, but I had known quite a bit about most of the girls prior to this, just being on the staff for the last four years.”

Katie Dittmar thinks that familiarity with her father and each other will be a key factor in how the Warriors mesh as a group.

“I think it’s easier that the majority of us have already played together, and then having somebody who everyone knows already as coach is big,” she said. “A lot of us grew up with him being around; back when we used to play travel and were in 10U, he was always coaching one of the older teams. So he’s always been around, and everybody’s familiar with him and I’ve never really heard anything negative.”

The experience on the field is led by the junior Stingley, who was 7-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 64 2/3 innings pitched, appearing in 12 games and starting seven. She struck out 80 and walked 24 in the circle, and she also hit .354 and slugged .523 at the plate, with five doubles, two home runs, 13 runs and 15 RBIs.

Leigh will take over as the other pitcher for the Palumbo, and she’ll also be a big bat back in the middle of the order. She hit .355 and slugged .532 last season, with five doubles, two homers, 16 runs and 18 RBIs.

Jacobs (.354 BA, .519 SLG, 3 HRs, 25 runs, 16 RBIs) and Dittmar (.344 BA, .563 SLG, 5 2Bs, 3 HRs, 20 runs, 18 RBIs) are back in the outfield, while sophomore Carley Sullivan (.293 BA, .397 SLG, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 9 runs, 16 RBIs) returns to the infield. Sophomore Marley Sechrest (.343 BA, .522 SLG, 4 2Bs, 2 HRs, 16 runs, 16 RBIs) is back behind the plate, and Nevaeh Frey (13 runs, 4 RBIs) brings back her speed in a utility role.

Sophomore infielder Kaitlyn Taylor (.294 BA, 3 runs, 4 RBIs) and sophomore outfielder Georgia Gallardo (4 runs, 2 RBIs) also started games in the latter stages of last season. Senior Aubri Menchaca, junior Olivia Melcher, and freshmen Lilliana Cantu, Mya Lira and Lily Martinez round out the Sterling roster.

Coach Dittmar likes his pitching and defense, and is eager to see his hitters against live pitching after some strong sessions in the batting cage. His daughter sees big things in all facets of the game.

“I think we’re going to do really well with Sienna in the circle this year. It’s definitely different without Elizabeth here, since she was a really key player and she’s a big loss for us, but I think Sienna’s going to come back and do really, really well,” Katie Dittmar said. “I’m really, really confident in her this year, and I think as a team, we still click just as well as we did the past couple years. We all get along, and I think teamwork is a really big thing in winning – and even in losing; if you’re staying together, you’re getting something out of it no matter what. I think we do really well with that, and practices have been going really, really smooth. I’m excited to get games going; I’m pumped.”

Sterling has won 10 straight regional titles, and is just a season removed from its third trip to the state finals in the last nine seasons. This year’s seniors want to keep that roll going, and leave their mark on the program and their teammates for the future.

“We haven’t really talked about goals yet, but me personally, I hope that as a team we’re able to keep our streak of winning regionals going,” Jacobs said. “And since it’s my senior season, I hope we can go as far as we possibly can.”