By TR HARLAN

Those people that follow the Chesterton High School softball team may have to have some patience this season.

Not because the Trojans won’t be good, that’s still to be determined, but because you may not know them by name.

When Chesterton takes the field today at 4:30 p.m. in its season opener at Griffith, not only will the fans in the stands need a roster, head coach LouAnn Hopson may need one too.

“The interesting thing for us is that not only are we looking for starters, we’re looking for backups too,” Hopson said. “We have kids that are just coming back from injuries and illnesses, so we still don’t know exactly what we have and we may not know for a while.”

The Trojans have graduated 18 starters over the past three years and many of them were two- and three-year players.

“When you go three years in a row with as many seniors as we had, you know it’s going to catch up you eventually,” Hopson said. “We just don’t have a lot of experience right now. I’m not going to apologize for playing those kids that last few years. If you’re competing for Sectional and Conference championships, you’re going to play what you know.

“At some point and time, you’re going to pay for it.”

The Trojans cupboard isn’t bare though. And Hopson won’t consider this a rebuilding year, but a reloading season.

“I think out rebuilding takes place at the JV level,” Hopson said. “We are retooling or reloading.”

Three starters return for Chesterton in the form of Catie Armstrong, Amanda Gough and Alexis Paz.

Armstrong will be asked to take the place of Dawn McClellan on the mound and should see time at first base when she doesn’t have the ball. Armstrong pitched in two games last season and hit .413 with three home runs and 17 RBI’s.

Gough will take over for Julie Farmer at shortstop after spending last season in right field. The senior hit .356 last year with three home runs and 23 RBI’s.

Paz should play third base for the Trojans and will see some time as a pitcher. She pitched in three games last year with a 2-1 record, while hitting .374 with 12 stolen bases.

“Those kids don’t have the pressure on them to come through on the field, but they have to be the one’s that keep their heads when everyone else is going crazy,” Hopson said. “They have to be able to give instruction and it has to be consistent and correct. They have to have the on-field leadership we need.

“They have the experience, so they have to be the ones that execute.”

The Trojans also have three players back from last season that saw limited action in sophomore Samantha Gross, junior Kelci Garcia and senior Jessica Sacha.

“This is my 25th year and I think we’ve had three sub-.500 seasons,” Hopson said. “It’s just been a while. The past few seasons we’ve reviewed things quickly and kind of hit the ground running. Now we make a plan and we don’t get to the second half of it because we just aren’t ready to.

“I’m a teacher, so that doesn’t bother me. As long as we get some learning too.”

Gross is competing for a job behind the plate, while Garcia is an infielder and Sacha should patrol part of the outfield.

“We’re doing a lot of teaching this year,” Hopson said. “We told the kids that they are going to get better as we start playing games, but more importantly, they are going to get better as we practice.”

The Trojans also expect help from freshmen Ryan Bozak, Taylor Harlow and Heather Overla; sophomore Kathleen Maple; juniors Amy DeYoung, Kelly Kulczyk, Jessica McClellan and Justine Vogie; and senior Samantha Bozak.

“There’s a difference in how much you have to learn from JV to varsity and how fast you have to learn it so we can move on,” Hopson said. “Practice will be the most valuable thing for us. We have kids playing different positions and doing something different in hitting.”

The biggest difference for the Trojans may come offensively as Hopson changes the approach of her team in the batter’s box.

“It should be very interesting and I think we’ll get a chance to do some things we haven’t done in the past,” Hopson said. “I’m excited about doing some things I’ve been thinking about offensively for a while and here’s out chance to do it.

“We don’t have the power to just whack it off the fence. We’re going to have to manufacture some runs.”

And that may mean getting thrown out on occasion.

“We’ll try to mix some of the speed we have with the power we have,” Hopson said. “We’ll try to bunt and run, or hit and run. We’ll try to score and probably get people thrown out early in the season until we find out who can do what.”

The Trojans open the home portion of their schedule on Friday when they host Hanover Central beginning at 5 p.m.

Posted 3/27/2008