Young Gilbert softball team made a lot of noise in 2023

Despite a lack of varsity experience, the Gilbert softball program took a step forward in 2023.

The Tigers went 17-14 and tied Ballard for sixth in the Raccoon River Conference with a 6-10 record. That surpasses their 2022 marks of 14-16 and 4-12 and the winning percentage (54.8%) is the program's best since going 19-12 in 2011.

Gilbert did this with a roster dominated by underclassmen. The Tigers had to replace two of their top three hitters and two of their top pitchers off last year's team and they ended up with six freshmen or sophomores among their top 10 regulars in 2023.

"This season was a continued upward trajectory of where we want to be as a program," Gilbert coach Staci Sniezek said. "We saw individual and team growth throughout the year. What we did was impressive as a fan, but more impressive was how we did it."

Sniezek said the Tigers' areas of concern last season became strengths this year.

Gilbert gave up over 50 fewer runs than 2022 (150 to 202) and improved its pitching staff ERA by nearly a full point with a 3.91 mark compared to last year's 4.82. The Tigers also increased their team fielding percentage on defense from 93.9% to 94.8%.

That helped them easily overcome a slight drop in offensive production. The Tigers scored 179 runs and hit .302 with 53 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs, 75 walks and 30 steals after finishing with 193 runs on a .313 average in 2022.

Gilbert started 1-2 then won nine of its next 10 games. That enabled the Tigers to earn a spot in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union rankings for the first time as a program.

As the season wore on Gilbert's inexperience began to show against the grind of its tough RRC schedule. The Tigers hit a rough patch that included a seven-game losing streak from June 20-29.

The schedule had a lot to do with Gilbert's slump during the second half of the year. The RRC ranks as the toughest conference in Class 4A with eventual repeat state champion Winterset only placing fourth behind North Polk, Carlisle and Adel-Desoto-Minburn.

All three teams in front of the Huskies also qualified for state, giving the RRC half of the 4A state tournament field.

By the end of the regular season Gilbert had regrouped to knock off Nevada (5-2) and Boone (4-3) to enter 4A Region 5 play with some momentum. Sniezek made several adjustments to get her team on the right path heading into regionals and she was pleased with how such a young team handled everything.

"This season had more moving parts than in past seasons and I thought the players showed patience and grace towards each other as we moved some pieces around," Sniezek said. "It was the team's support of each other and attention to details that allowed multiple players to play multiple positions with ease."

Gilbert edged Mason City in a 2-1 battle during the 4A Region 5 semifinals on July 8 at Gilbert. Three days later the Tigers traveled to Alleman to take on a North Polk team that finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in 4A.

The Tigers fell behind the Comets 10-1 after four innings. Then they nearly pulled off the impossible.

Gilbert plated six runs in the top of the fifth and after blanking North Polk in the bottom of the inning added three more runs in the sixth to suddenly tie the game. But North Polk answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and the Tigers could not respond in suffering a hard-fought 13-10 loss.

"Instead of feeling pressure, the players stepped up and played their best when their best was needed," Sniezek said. "They could have lost focus after being down 10-1 to the No. 1 team in the state. But they rallied around each other, stayed positive, our dugout kept encouraging and hyping them up and they battled to tie the game. I have been around for a lot of years to know in a regional final that does not happen a lot. It takes a really special group of selfless players for that to happen."

Katie Sniezek and Carlee Schwartze led Gilbert's outstanding group of young players.

Sniezek received all-state honors after hitting .389 with seven doubles, one triple, eight sacrifices and 17 runs and RBIs apiece. The freshman shortstop also made just five errors in 121 chances in the field.

Schwarze, the top returning player from a year ago, fought through an injury to hit .438 with nine doubles, four triples, two homers, 26 runs and 18 RBIs during her freshman campaign. She only had two errors in 31 chances in the outfield.

Freshmen Clara Newton and Tovaria Smith and sophomores Zoey Jones and Emma Latterell also hit over .300 for Gilbert during the season.

Newton hit .377 with seven doubles, two homers nine runs and 11 RBIs and Smith had a .325 average with seven doubles, one homer, 25 runs and seven RBIs. Jones tallied a .312 average with two doubles, 15 runs and eight RBIs and Latterell hit .310 with nine doubles, one homer, 14 runs and 18 RBIs.

Junior Maddy Shannon just missed the .300 mark. She finished with a .297 average, four doubles, two homers, 21 runs and eight RBIs.

Taylor Puck hit .255 and provided quality power with five home runs and 23 RBIs during her junior season. Junior Delaney Eickert had a .243 on-base percentage with one double and home run apiece and 12 RBIs.

Sophomore Olivia Latterell threw out one base runner and provided quality play behind the plate. Junior Adalyn Gauck went without an error in 20 chances.

Addison Hodgen was the only senior contributor for Gilbert this season. She anchored the Tiger pitching staff by going 11-7 with a 3.44 ERA, 57 strikeouts and 14 walks in 118 innings.

Newton went 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 12 walks in 36 1/3 inning. Smith threw 32 2/3 innings and finished 3-3 with a 6.21 ERA.

Gilbert must find a way to replace Hodgen, but with everyone else back the Tigers will be aiming high in 2024.

"Next season we will set the same goal to continue our movement into the next tier of top teams in the RRC," Coach Sniezek said. "We want to continue to find success and experience in our non-conference schedule and find ourselves on the right side of some unexpected wins. Bigger than that, if the climate of the program can be as hard working, selfless and supportive as this group was, we will no doubt be better for it."

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Gilbert softball team fell just short of reaching state in 2023