'We've always been the underdogs': Streetsboro softball shows progress with pair of wins

RAVENNA — One week, two wins.

That might not sound like much, but for a Streetsboro softball team that won three games all of last year and has two winning seasons over the last 21 years, it means a lot.

"I feel like we've always been the underdogs," Rockets junior Hailey Miller said. "So coming in and winning two games already, I think we should be really proud of ourselves for that."

It's a strong start for Rockets coach LeRoy Moore, who spent his first 12 years as a head coach at Crestwood. For Moore, who amassed a 180-75 record in Mantua, including Portage County's late softball state championship in 2003, this has been a distinctly different challenge.

But it's a challenge Moore has attacked with gusto, per junior Audriana Wert.

"He was ready to play," Wert said. "He wanted to play right then and there. He made us come to these open gyms. He did everything for us and he's showing it through every game. No matter if we do bad, he's hyping us up."

Supplementing strong bats with sharper play in the field

The Rockets' hitting has been strong so far.

Miller smoked four line drives in her four at-bats against Ravenna, with three landing for hits.

"I just try to come in as confident as I can," Miller said. "My mindset is if I go in with confidence, say I'll hit it, then I do."

Streetsboro sent liners to the gaps throughout Thursday afternoon's game at Portage Community Bank Stadium, whether it was Khloe Cutright, T'Lanee Boyett or Miller.

That should come as no surprise.

Despite their 3-17 record last year, the Rockets hit the ball decently. They return four .400 hitters from a year ago in Samantha Gadus (.477), Boyett (.466), Cortney Evert (.429) and Miller (.424).

Perhaps the best sign from Thursday's win over the Ravens was the Rockets' defense.

They didn't make a single error and made some plus-plays in the field, including Gadus' leaping catch in the left-field gap to strand a runner on third and a nice catch by sophomore Neveah Monroe on a fly down the right-field line.

All of which helped make Wert's first start a blazing success as she tossed a one-hit shutout.

Wert didn't chase strikeouts — with just three in five innings — and she didn't have to the way her defense was playing.

"I've always had trust in these girls," Wert said. "I've been playing with them since I was little, so just building trust as we got older, it really helps, because me and Hailey have been playing together since we were little, so it's always nice to have those girls behind me and being able to trust them helps me pitch a lot better."

The road ahead for Moore, Streetsboro

Change rarely comes overnight in high school.

Sure enough, the Rockets alternated this week between 10-run wins at Fairview Park and Ravenna and lopsided losses to Cuyahoga Falls and Field. Competing with longtime Metro Athletic Conference powers like the Falcons will likely take time — and a lot of hard work.

"We're seeing good things," Moore said. "We're off to a good start. I know it was kind of rough against Field, but Field's got hitters. Field is a very good team."

In these early days, Moore said his main focus is "execution."

On Thursday, his team hit a ton of line drives and fielded the ball well.

That's execution.

Two wins in a week after three victories all of last year.

That's execution.

It's not necessarily the fancy stuff that has Moore's focus.

It's simple execution.

"We previously have thrown the ball around and what we've been working on is no unnecessary throws," Moore said. "Hold on to the ball, let things settle down, don't be throwing it just because there's runners running, so they're starting to do that. Take control of the game."

Overall, Moore said he wants to sharpen his players' softball IQ so they can make their own decisions during games.

"My main goal right here is to raise your guys' softball IQ as players," Moore said. "You don't wait every time for a coach to tell you what to do. Think about it yourself, so we're kind of changing that culture around that way by instructing them and giving them the information that they need to be good ballplayers."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro softball shows early signs of progress under LeRoy Moore