Student interest in spring sports goes deep; coaches hope it's enough to play ball

For the first time in more than a decade, it's possible that Wrangell High School could have not only a baseball team but a softball team as well. But the question remains as to whether umps will call "Play ball!" or "Foul!"

Last week, about 10 boys and 10 girls turned out for unsanctioned practice at Volunteer Park, where clumps of snow still clung for life to the diamonds, making better conditions for mud pies than pop flies.

As of last Friday, softball head coach Marsha Ballou said there were 19 girls interested in softball and 16 boys interested in baseball. However, baseball coach Daniel Powell said not all of them showed up for practice.

"This week is unsanctioned practice," Powell said. "It's up to them to show up."

He said the teams should know by next week if they will be sanctioned by the high school, a decision that is made by the school activities director based on the number of students who sign up. A minimum of 12 players on a team is needed.

Powell wants to schedule games as soon as possible to keep the players interested.

Though several attempts have been made over the years to field teams in both sports at the high school level, Powell thinks the last time the school had a team that traveled for games was his senior year in 2009. Over the years, other coaches such as his brother have tried to get teams together but student interest would fade or kids would start summer jobs.

Plus, student enrollment has declined steadily over the years, making it harder to have full teams.

"We had 31 (graduates) in our class. Twelve of our seniors were on baseball," Powell said. "I think we had 16 (players) total." The current enrollment count is 69 students in all four grades at the high school.

Right now, both coaches are gauging players' interest and skill levels. They will run the season for as long as the interest holds and they have the players to compete. Regional play probably isn't on deck due to a lack of funding, Ballou said, so they will be able to play through May.

Until games are lined up, with possibly Petersburg and schools on Prince of Wales showing interest, practice will continue.

Instead of playing on the still icy, mucky baseball diamonds on March 22, the boys practiced under the covered basketball courts and the girls found a semi-stable place on the hill above.

"Try to step in front of it ... it will stop with your body. You're taking one for the team, but it stops with your body," Ballou told one of her players. "You'll get a better eye for seeing it."

The softball coach walked amid her team, giving them suggestions on how to stand and throw, among other useful tips. "You're going to take your left foot and take a step forward and throw, while bringing ... your right leg forward," she told junior Mia Wiederspohn, who is playing against her better judgment.

"I've never been on a girls team sport, and I didn't do wrestling this year, so I kind of missed sports," Wiederspohn said. "This is kind of a less-intense deal. Even though I'm super busy and I shouldn't be doing softball, I still really want to join."

Sean McDonald, who is usually found in the pep band or working on technology projects, said he's always wanted to try baseball.

"We haven't done it (had a team) in years, not in quite a while, so I haven't been able to play," he said. "But I've been interested in playing it. The weather here isn't really suited for it."

Powell had his players starting out with short tosses, then slowly getting farther apart to get them warmed up.

Back on the hilltop, the girls kept up their practice as well.

"Are you ready for this one," asked Abree Powers as she got ready to throw to Kalee Herman.

"Yeah. Let me get out of the mud," came the response.