Warriors show improvement on the field
Every success story has to start somewhere, and for the St. Michael’s Academy girls athletic program, it just did.
The Warriors, in Amy Vogel’s third season as head coach, won the Panorama League 1B softball championship, a first for the girls in any sport. SMA competes in cross-country, basketball and softball.
Their season ended last Saturday when they competed well, but lost a pair of extra-inning contests in the District 7 playoffs to determine three representatives to the state tournament. They finished their season with a 15-5 record.
Vogel was Amy Urann when she attended St. Michael’s, and the opportunity to bring home a championship to the school where she played only a few years ago is special to her.
“It’s awesome!” she said. “It’s great to go through building a program, working on it with the girls at my alma mater.”
Katie Urann, Vogel’s younger sister, is the Warriors’ top pitcher and one of 10 juniors and sophomores who have played together for several years. St. Michael’s finished over .500 last season, so the program has been on an upswing, but coach and players were a bit surprised that their success came so quickly.
“I figured we’d do well,” said Vogel. “I’ve been with these girls a long time, and I’ve seen great improvement in their ability to handle pressure. The big difference this year is in our mental game – everybody is just really focused, and they all trust each other on the field.
“Another important factor is that five of the girls played summer softball together, so they came out this spring really ready to go.”
She also credits two additions to her coaching staff, Leslie White and Mary O’Hara. White pitched at Western Washington University and worked extensively with Katie Urann this spring.
Urann and catcher Tori South, another junior, were both selected to the All-Panorama League first team, while sophomore shortstop Marianne Raynor received honorable mention.
Urann has pitched almost every inning this spring, sometimes working all four games a week – Panorama teams play all their league contests in doubleheaders. She and South, a defensive stalwart who also bats fourth for the Warriors, have been battery mates since junior high.
“We knew that if we worked hard, we’d be pretty good,” said Urann. “We didn’t lose any seniors last spring, so we set our goals high. We only have one senior who plays much this spring, so we’re right in the middle of a pretty good thing right now.”
South sounds like a catcher as she breaks down the season:
“The difference this season is that we’ve worked a lot harder and made more of an effort to be successful,” she said. “Playing in the summer helped us develop a vision of what we could do, and we’d been successful before, in eighth grade. Last year was more for fun, but this year our goal was to go further.
“With our team, our success depends on being both physically and mentally ready to win. We work hard to focus on what we’re trying to get done, one play at a time.”
Raynor’s older sister, junior infielder Tina, credits much of the Warriors’ success this season to their experience.
“We had a lot of freshmen playing last year and still did pretty well,” she said, “so we knew we could win. Staying focused is important. It means keeping your head in the game all the time. Mistakes are going to happen, but you just have to get back in there and stay mentally tough so one mistake doesn’t bring you and your team down.”
So expect the Warriors to shrug off the premature conclusion to their season and get the train back on the tracks to State next spring.