Brecksville-Broadview Heights Softball Team Succeeding Despite the Weather

Jim Procuk much prefers outside to inside -- and the softball coach isn't talking about pitch location.

"Once you've gone outside to play, it's tough going back inside to practice," Procuk said of the Bees' plight this rainy spring.

Not being able to get out in the open air for many practices and some games, however, has actually worked in the girls' favor. A 13-1 win over Berea on Friday in a game moved to the softball field at Blossom Hill because of a late afternoon rain put the Bees' record at 10-6, including 8-4 in the Southwestern Conference.

"I don't like having to use pitching machines, either, but we have had no other choice than to go indoors and work on hitting," Procuk said. "It's been nothing but hitting, hitting, hitting -- and it has paid off. We're really slapping the ball around."

That was the case in a 26-0 win over Cleveland Heights back on April 12. The Bees totaled 31 hits, including a 5-for-5 day by senior Andie Bonamer. She had three doubles, a triple and scored five times.

The Bees have continued to win despite an injury to ace pitcher Aleksandra Radjen. The senior has been sidelined with a strained back, which will keep her from approaching the numbers she put up a year ago when she had a 1.73 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 133 innings.

Radjen started this season in great form, striking out 12 and allowing only two hits in a season-opening 7-0 win over conference rival Midpark. A couple of weeks later, the Cleveland State recruit pitched a one-hitter to beat Avon Lake, 11-0, then five days later struck out 13 in a 3-0 win over Westlake.

Filling the void has been junior Kristen Lang, who earlier this week pitched on consecutive days. On Wednesday, she started against Westlake and followed that with a 6-1 win over Amherst on Thursday, striking out four. She helped her own cause in that game by going 2-for-2 with a double and scoring twice.

"I think everybody is tired of the rain," Lang said, not showing any effects of being tired after her busy two days. "It is tough for hitters to get their timing, but it makes it tough on pitchers, too. You lose track of what the umpires call for a strike zone. You lose your feel for pitching. There's no substitute for playing."

Yet a couple of key substitutes helped the Bees beat Berea. Freshman Bailey Frederick was called up from the JV team to work in relief of starting pitcher Emily Harwood. Hannah Kunze replaced stalwart senior Kaitlyn Eder at third base and had a good game. Eder had a family commitment that she told coach Procuk about weeks ago -- when May 6 was an open date. Postponements forced the game to be played Friday and Kunze was ready.

"This is such a great group to work with," Prokup said. "They make my job easy. I get to the field and say, 'Let's play.' And they know what to do. A lot of that comes from gathering experience in the Brecksville recreation program, the middle schools and freshman and JV teams. We have a great feeder program."

A year ago, the Bees finished 15-10, losing to Brunswick in the district tournament. Eight starters are back from that team and Procuk admits that he has high expectations for the rest of the season.

"We'd like to get Alex back," he said of Radjen. "She was supposed to pitch Thursday against Amherst. She warmed up, I had her in the lineup and then she said her back didn't feel right. So I went to Kristen and said, 'You know how well you pitched yesterday? How'd you like to do it again?' She toughened up, went out there and delivered.

"That's the kind of girls we have on this team."

2011 BEES SOFTBALL ROSTER

NO.  PLAYER              POS.   YEAR

  1       Emily Harwood       OF-P    Jr.

  2       Bailey Frederick     P            Fr.

  3       Jen Kalinsky             2B         Sr.

  5       Andrea Green           OF        Sr.

  6       Hannah Kunze         3B         Jr.

  7       Kristen Lang             P           Jr.

  8      Aleksandra Radjen  P          Sr.

  9       Christina Paffilas     SS        Sr.

10       Kaitlyn Eder             3B        Sr.

13       Andie Bonamer        1B        Sr.

17       Sydney Kimball       OF        Sr.

21       Audrey Zakelj          OF         Jr.

26       Becky Malaga          C           Sr.

Head coach: Jim Procuk

Assistant: Frank Krajewski

Assistant: Darryl Mancini