BERNE — Many of the players for the Berne-Knox-Westerlo softball team this season are new to softball but have played other sports.

The Lady Bulldogs only have four seniors and three of them haven’t been on the varsity before. BKW will also rely on an eighth-grader in the pitching circle.
"We are young in some places," said BKW Coach Jim Lemire. "Actually, we’re more inexperienced than young. We have four seniors and only one played last year."

Lindsay Hamel is the lone returning senior. She will continue to be the Bulldogs’ catcher and will be one of the team’s co-captains.

Christine Sikule is another co-captain but is a first-year member of the varsity team.
"She hasn’t played since middle school," Lemire said. "She’ll play shortstop for us. We had a couple of people in mind for the spot but they didn’t pan out."

Sikule played volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter for BKW.

Nicole Shultes is another senior co-captain and will play centerfield for the Bulldogs. She played soccer in the fall and was a co-captain of the cheerleading team in the winter.

The final senior is Katrina Fisher.
"She has never played before," Lemire said.

Beyond seniors

The team has nine juniors with four of them returning from last year’s team.

Amanda Tubbs returns to play in left field. She could also play some at third base.
"She is a very capable hitter," Lemire said. "She can drive the ball."

Kari Rossback will patrol centerfield and is the Bulldogs’ fourth co-captain.
"She’s a cheerleader and a volleyball player," Lemire said. "She got injured last week, but she should be back soon. She is the fastest player on the team. She’ll lead off for us and will steal bases."

Megan Leonard also returns. She will platoon at first base with classmate Katie Stanton.

Leonard plays volleyball and was a co-captain of the cheerleading team.
"Both first basemen field well and hit the ball very well," Lemire said.

Tracy Williams is a newcomer to the varsity team, moving up from junior varsity.
"She will mostly play second base," Lemire said. "But we’re having her learn how to catch. She has a great attitude and great hustle."

Danielle Thielsen is new to the varsity at BKW. She transferred from a school in Wisconsin and played volleyball in the fall.
"She will play second and outfield for us," Lemire said. "She is a very good hitter. She had a couple good swings so far that she got robbed on. That’s part of the game. They’ll fall at some point."

Kayla Squires is new to the varsity and has not played school softball in a couple of years but did play club softball.
"She is our number-two pitcher and will also play third base," Lemire said. "She’ll be a big help. She has not played in school for two years but played for Pine Bush in Guilderland."

Caitlyn Osterhout will play the outfield for the Bulldogs.
"She played soccer and is one of the hardest workers we have," Lemire said. "She is also learning to play the infield."

Kristi Dunigan will play in the outfield for the Bulldogs.
"She is a cheerleader and is very fleet a foot," Lemire said.

Sophomore Vicki Lounsbury is a varsity returner. She played soccer and basketball.
"She can play a whole lot of different positions," Lemire said. "She’ll be a back-up catcher and is learning to pitch."

Kieva Reynolds is an eighth-grader and will be the team’s number-one pitcher.
"She is not our most experienced player," Lemire said. "But she’s up there. She’ll also play third base. She’s hitting lead-off for us for the first two games, but when Kari returns she’ll bat second."
"Strong pitcher"

Reynolds pitched well in the Bulldogs first game of the season. She gave up just four hits in a 5-2 loss to Greenville. She also had five strikeouts and no walks in the contest.

In the Bulldogs’ second game, a loss to Stillwater, she pitched one inning and gave up just one run and had one strikeout.
"She’s pitched eight innings and gave up just one earned run," Lemire said of Reynolds work in the first two games of the season.

Reynolds played on the junior-varsity as a seventh-grader and had a good season.
"She was a strong pitcher last year," Lemire said. "She is right there with our pitcher from last year, Liz Leonard. She can throw strikes over the plate.
"But my conscience wouldn’t let me put her on varsity and not working on pitching," Lemire added. "She was by far the number-one on the j.v. but we had a good pitcher last year and we didn’t want her sitting and not getting the innings. She has good instincts for the game. She has a fastball, a riser, a drop ball, and a change-up."

Reynolds also plays for the Pine Bush club team in Guilderland and also works with other coaches.

Lemire said more and more kids are just starting to play softball outside the school season at BKW.
"We have four kids on this team that play on the volleyball club I run in the offseason," Lemire said. "And a lot of the girls play club soccer or basketball during the year but not many play softball. That is something I would like to see happen. That would put the program in the right direction."

Despite the two losses to start the season, Lemire likes the make-up of this team.
"This is a good group of girls," the coach said. "They worked hard in the preseason. We got more days outside than in the past. What will make it a little harder is that we’ll be on the road a lot for the first part of the season. It’ll be good for the team. We have a good group of leaders and I’m looking forward to working with them."