Hillsboro softball combining with Peabody for young team

Back: Breanna Lett, Kylee Martin,Trinity Malm, Ava Weisbeck Front: Dani Klein, Cheyenne Bernhardt and Maria Nieto. Treena Lucero / Special to the Free PressThe goals for the Hillsboro Softball Team this year are simple. Have a winning season and compete well in the post season.

That is what first-year head coach Kalee Cross hopes to accomplish with her young Trojan team which placed second at Class 2A Sub-State last year, just losing out on the state tournament.

This year Hillsboro has combined teams with Peabody-Burns and will compete in Class 3A when it comes to state competition.

“I am excited we co-oped with Peabody-Burns allowing for Skylre Stucky (freshman) and Breanna Lett (senior) to be part of our team,” Cross said. “Both Reese and Skylre have a lot of playing experience in club and I think that is going to help them be big contributors to our team.”

The team has a lot of new faces along with Stucky and Lett.

“Half of our team is brand new, so as a team we don’t have much experience playing together,” Cross said. “Our returners have stepped up and done a great job working with our younger girls to build a great team attitude.”

A couple of those returning girls the Trojans will be depending on are Dani Klein, a First-Team All Central Kansas League Utility Player last season; Ava Weisbeck, a Second-Team All CKL Outfielder; and Cheyenne Bernhardt, a solid versatile senior who played all over the field for Hillsboro last year.

Other key contributors will likely be Maria Nieto, Tuesday Weisbeck, Trinity Malm, and Reese Hefley.

“I believe we will be able to compete well, but I know it will take playing games to gain fluidity as a team,” Cross said. “A big strength we have this year is that many of our players are versatile. This will allow for us to be solid on defense with different pitchers on the mound. It also will help for game time adjustments.”

Hillsboro plays in an always tough Central Kansas League that saw several teams go far in the state tournament last year.

“We have a tough league, but I think that will help us prepare for post-season play because many of the teams we face are 3A and that is where we will be competing this post-season,” Cross said. “The team has a great attitude and drive to improve individually and as a team. That makes me excited as a coach knowing they want to do well and are willing to put in the work to make that happen.”

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