Softball Player of the Year: James Wood's Lani Spielman

By WALT MOODY | The Winchester Star
Jun 28, 2018

James Wood coach Todd Baker is The Winchester Star Softball Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons.

Despite losing 2017 Winchester Star Player of the Year Lauren King to a knee injury prior to the start of the season, Baker led the Colonels (17-5-1) to the Northwestern District Tournament title and a berth in the Region 4C playoffs.

James Wood pulled off a miraculous comeback in the district tournament title game. Trailing Sherando 4-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Colonels scored four runs to walk off with a dramatic 5-4 victory on Camryn Rizzari’s bases-loaded single.

James Wood would fall 5-0 against Loudoun Valley in the regional semifinals.

What were your expectations coming into the season and were they met?

Baker: We set a goal to win the district. We won the district tournament but we didn’t win the season. We came in a pretty high seed in the region and got a home region game. We just couldn’t quite get it done. But that’s the goal every year, to have a high seed and to have regional games at home. It gives you a good chance to advance and hopefully get to a state tournament one day. [With the loss of King] it’s kind of next player up at that point. Who’s going to step up? Lani Spielman certainly stepped up offensively and in the pitching circle. Having Ivy Rosenberry to finish games and have some quality starts for us was a huge deal, too, to get us where we went. Offensively without Lauren King, that was a big hole, too. We had some kids step up there, too, and do a really good job for us this year.

What stood out about the season?

Baker: I think Lani’s offensive numbers were pretty impressive. I never really thought she was going to hit eight home runs and drive in 37 on the year. Ivy Rosenberry’s .676 on-base percentage, with 21 walks. Her on-base percentage was phenomenal. You really don’t expect kids to have those kinds of numbers. There’s a few games we kind of pulled out because we had the heart. We believed in ourselves and had heart. There’s probably a couple of games we probably shouldn’t have won, but we did. That’s what you prepare for all year.

Were there any games that you thought had more significance?

Baker: I’d say going down to Fauquier on that away game, a tough, tough district game. Fauquier is really hard to beat down there. They had a quality team this year. We went down there and there were some bright lights shining. They put on a pretty good show and a lot of intimidation. We walked into the dugout and felt we could win the game. We fell behind early, but Lani hit a three-run homer late in the game, pitched outstanding and we ended up winning the game [4-2]. I think leaving there we had a shot at winning this thing. And of course, there was the Sherando game to get us into the regionals. To win that game in the bottom of the seventh the way we did, those are games as a coach or a player you’ll remember the rest of your life.

Were there any players who surprised you?

Baker: Olivia Miller, a freshman stepped in. Really the first couple of days you saw her, you kind of realized that this kid has got a chance to start at the varsity level. After a few games there was no question she was a starter and an elite player. She had tremendous stats offensively. Defensively, she made plays that you don’t really expect seniors to make and she was really unfazed by pressure. We got into regionals with a freshman second baseman and she is just like this is just another game almost.

What were the memorable moments coaching this team?

Baker: The biggest thing about this group is that it was family. We were a tight group. As soon as school started, we started conditioning and working out. We spent a ton of time together through the year. It was just a really close group. You could leave them alone sometimes and you could see the tightness of the group getting stronger and stronger. They believed in each other. As far as most memorable moments I’ve got two: Lani’s homer at Fauquier and Camryn Rizzari’s single up the middle against Sherando will never be forgotten. The crack of the bat went and it wasn’t the hardest hit in the world, but it did the job and won the game on a walkoff. You don’t have too many walkoffs to get you into regionals, especially against a rival like Sherando.

What are your expectations for next season?

Baker: We have a lot of players back. We lost some power in our offense with losing Lindsey Anderson and she’s a great defensive catcher. We’ve got Rebecca Boone that I think can fill that spot unless somebody else comes along and beats her out. We have several key starters returning and anytime you have Ivy Rosenberry in the circle I think you’ve got a chance of winning. We’ve got to figure out how to score more runs. In the district we did OK, but once you get into regions — that last three years we’ve been there and we have not scored enough runs to win games. We’ve got to figure that out. That’s going to be a focus at the start of the season, trying to figure out how to score runs against these top No. 1 pitchers.

— Compiled by Walt Moody