Capital City testing pitching depth with tournament

Capital City's Lydia Coulson pitches against Helias during last week's Jamboree at Optimist Field.
Capital City's Lydia Coulson pitches against Helias during last week's Jamboree at Optimist Field.

There will be some new faces in the lineup in Year 2 for the Capital City softball team, and they'll get plenty of innings on the field right off the bat.

The Lady Cavaliers will play as many as five games this weekend in the Sullivan Tournament, including three pool play games today in the 15-team event.

Good thing they have a couple pitchers to eat up innings.

Olivia Wood returns to the circle after the left-hander led the pitching duties as a sophomore.

Entering the rotation this season is freshman right-hander Lydia Coulson.

"They're going to be our one-two punch," Lady Cavaliers coach Brett Skinner said. " They're pretty similar."

Coulson got some varsity experience last week in a Jamboree at Riverside Park.

"We have really high hopes for her," Skinner said. "She's a girl that can carry us. If we're struggling offensively or defensively, she's a type of pitcher that will get us out of jams. She's got that presence in the circle that you want, which is rare to see as an incoming freshman."

Camryn Sharp, a sophomore, is also expected to step into the pitcher's circle this season.

They'll be tossing to a couple different catchers, including junior Kennedy Schanuth and freshman Faith Karr.

"Right now it's going to be about 50-50 on that," Skinner said. "They're both going to be catching some games and see who kind of comes out ahead as we get later in the season."

When Schanuth isn't behind the plate, she'll handle duties in left field.

In right field, junior Kelsey O'Day and sophomore MaKhia Otten will battle for playing time.

Sharp will command things in center field.

"We ended up putting Cam out there last year and she helped us big time there," Skinner said.

There will be freshmen getting an opportunity to start in the infield for Capital City.

Emma Stieferman can play either corner position, but is expected to mainly be at first base.

Coulson will see some time at second base when she's not pitching, while freshmen Karr, Haylie Zahner and Kambry Pistel-Pickett are in the running for that spot as well.

"Wide open right now," Skinner said. "We've got some competition there."

Capital City has a pair of returning infielders, with Jaiden Kausler at third base and Maysen Karr back at shortstop.

"This year I think we're going to be much improved," Skinner said of the defense. "We're still young and they're still learning, so we're still going to make those mistakes. We think by the end of it our defense will be pretty solid."

At the top of the lineup will be Coulson, Sharp and Schanuth, with Maysen Karr and Kausler toward the middle of the order.

"The meaty part of our lineup is going to be pretty good," Skinner said. "If we can get that bottom half to square some balls up, get on base, we like our chances."

Faith Karr and Otten are expected to round out the batting order.

"I've liked what I've seen in the summer," Skinner said. "They swung it really well."

Capital City will open the season at 1:30 p.m. today against Bolivar. The Lady Cavaliers will then play Hillboro at 5 p.m. and Pacific at 6:45 p.m. to finish pool play.

Bracket play is set for Saturday.

Capital City will have a quick turnaround with a game Monday at Owensville and another one Tuesday at Linn.

The first home game for the Lady Cavaliers is Sept. 10 against Cuba.

A day later, Capital City will play in its first Central Missouri Activities Conference game at Jefferson City.