May 27, 2025
Softball
Coaches of the summer teams have the nearly impossible task of getting their teams ready for the upcoming season while the spring sports are reaching their zenith. As head coach of the boys’ track and softball teams, Coach Caskey always does an impressive Houdini act of seemingly being in two places at once, but tempers his expectations for his players at this time of year.
“(May 21) was the first time we had everybody at practice,” he said. “We’re always a little behind at this point, but we’re catching up. The younger kids are a little farther ahead than I thought they’d be.”
The younger players—or, at least, the ‘inexperienced’ players—on this year’s team will need to get up to speed quickly. Six starters from last year’s team are gone, meaning that several players will get an opportunity to crack the lineup.
Fortunately for the Cardinals, senior Haley Glade—one of the best players to ever put on an Earlham uniform—is one of the starters returning this season. She is the Cardinals’ all-time home run leader and holds the record for most homers in a season. She’s a fierce batter that hit 13 home runs last year, batted a robust .547, had a slugging percentage of 1.137, and knocked in 64 runs. Glade will play next year for the University of Texas at Tyler, who won the Division II national championship in 2024 and is currently playing in the 2025 DII World Series.
Senior Kenady Ridout also returns for her senior season. A shoulder injury ended her wrestling season and limited her to only throwing the shot during track season. She will only play in the field for a week or two, but will hopefully get the go-ahead from her physical therapist to hit sometime in June. The Cards need her. Much of the firepower that surrounded Glade in the lineup last year is gone. To keep opposing pitchers from working around Glade, hitters like Ridout will need to be scary, too. Ridout hit .375 with 2 home runs and 23 RBI.
Ridout will play softball and volleyball at Waldorf College next season. Until then, she’ll help keep things loose in the Cardinal dugout.
“She’s full of energy and she’s fun to have around,” said Coach Caskey.
Junior Kenna Harskamp started in centerfield last season, and she’ll be there again.
“I think she learned a lot last year, especially playing in those regional games,” said Coach Caskey.
Junior Ava Harris missed last season due to shoulder surgery, but she’s healthy now and will play shortstop.
Junior Keeley Keller started most of the games last year in right field.
“She’s kind of a Swiss army knife,” said the coach. “You can play her at 3rd, shortstop, 2nd, outfield. She does a great job at all of them. She’s very steady.”
Freshman Zoe Nixt will catch for the Cardinals. She has no varsity experience at that position, but has a ton of upside.
“She’ll have to learn on the fly,” said Coach Caskey. “She’s a super athlete.”
Pitcher Eden Forcht started 13 games for the Cards last year as the #2 and will begin this season as the #1. She had a 7-5 record with a 4.77 ERA. Freshman Jenna Yetter pitched in 5 games last season and will be counted on for much more this year. 8th grader Mila Dvorak rounds out the young pitching staff.
While the early practices have been fine, the Cardinals will benefit from actual games.
“I think we need to see some live pitching and field some ground balls off of bats that aren’t ours,” said Coach Caskey. “The more of that we get the better we’re going to be.”
The schedule is a bit different this year, with a few more non-game days early on, which should help the team ease into things a bit. The first week, the Cards will practice twice in the middle of two games, plus a tournament on the weekend.
The schedule is pretty good for a couple weeks compared to last year,” said Coach Caskey. “It’s set up to help us out. I just need to make sure we use those days in the right way to work on those things that we didn’t do as well in games as we’d hoped.”
Coach Caskey will be assisted by 2014 Earlham graduate Kaylie Hein.
Baseball
When former Cardinal head coach Josh Mohr resigned a few months ago to pursue a non-coaching career opportunity, everyone was taken by surprise—including his assistant Brad Deling. Deling wasn’t officially named the new head coach until just recently, but someone had to rally the troops.
“I had to get to work mentally with everything in a short period of time,” said Coach Deling. “Get practice plans going; try to get the morale back up. Having the year with the team last season helped tremendously. They understand the type of coach I am. I’m going to hold the kids accountable.”
At its core, baseball isn’t rocket science. You hit, field, and throw. But every coach has their own philosophy on how to score runs.
“We’re going to be very aggressive on the base paths,” said Coach Deling. “We’re going to put the pressure on the defense; make them make the extra throws. I’m a big small-ball guy. We don’t have a lot of power hitters. We’re going to have to make sure we get bunts down.”
As for keeping the other team off the scoreboard, that will be mostly up to three senior pitchers and hopefully a tight defense. Carter Hohertz, Blake Tiemeyer, and Klayton Wolken combined to pitch 63 innings last season, and their workloads will increase this summer. With pitch count rules and games stacking up every week, plenty of other pitchers will get an opportunity to throw, as well.
Those three seniors will also need to move into more prominent leadership roles for a team that will have only seven upperclassmen.
“I’m kind of letting the seniors lead the way as far as leadership style,” said Coach Deling. “It’s still a learning process for them too. I’m letting them guide the ship and I’m making sure it’s going in the right direction.”
The top three batters are gone from the ’24 Cards that hit a collective .272, so everyone in the lineup will have to step up. Wolken, who hit .310 last season, is the Cards’ top returning batter. A.J. Dunsky, Cash Eitel, and Konnar Stiles didn’t play much last year, but will get their chance in the lineup this season.
Among the underclassmen, five 8th graders are on the roster, and some of them could get a chance to play. In particular, Austen Rodgers should get some opportunities to pitch.
“What I want out of the 8th grade class this year is just to understand the amount of work and mental focus that it takes to be a leader at a varsity level,” said Coach Deling. “If I can have them around all these other boys that have been in the program for five years, and have them be good mentors to these younger guys, it’s only going to benefit our program in the coming years.”
Coach Deling will be assisted by 2024 Earlham graduate Ty Forcht.
Earlham Echo 
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