One year later, Waubonsie Valley sophomore Addison Powell is feeling right at home.
The difference this preseason has been like night and day for the power-hitting right fielder, according to Warriors coach Valerie Wood. Plenty of hard work since last spring has Powell looking ready to settle into the cleanup spot in the lineup.
“Last year, I was pretty nervous,” Powell said of her promotion to the varsity. “Being a freshman on varsity was, like scary. I’d never really played against 17 and 18-year-olds.
“Now, I’m more used to it and I’ve seen more pitching like this.”
She looked ready for the role Tuesday at West Aurora.
Powell hit a home run down the left field line in her first at-bat of the season, capping a three-run first-inning outburst by the Warriors in an eventual 9-6 nonconference victory.
“First home run of my high school career,” Powell said, flashing a smile. “It looked foul for a second, then I saw it go over and I was like, ‘OK.’”
Powell followed with a RBI single in the third inning for Waubonsie (1-0) to back senior Samantha Wiertelak, who teamed with freshman Molly Quinn to pitch the win.
Sophomore shortstop Aislee Morgan also had a big day at the plate for the Warriors, driving in four runs with a three-run double and fielder’s choice groundout to go with a pair of walks.
It offset the solo home run and double from Ohio State-bound senior shortstop Sara Tarr that led the Blackhawks (0-1), missing three starters who were on a field trip.
It made for two young teams, with Waubonsie starting one senior, two juniors, five sophomores and one freshman. West Aurora’s lineup had two seniors, five sophomores and two freshmen.
The key, though, was Powell.
“She has just come back with a vengeance,” Wood said. “She was a little sporadic, and she was out for a little bit last year because she ran into a fence chasing a fly ball and had a concussion.
“Whatever she did from the time I saw her last year until now, she’s a completely different kid, a completely different player. She has a lot more confidence and is a lot more self-assured.”
Powell said it was simply continued work with her Illinois Hawks travel team and private hitting lessons from Ben Hewett, the organization’s instructor.
She’s been with both for four years.
“Really, in the offseason, I tried to work on my flaws,” Powell said. “I was sitting back on change-ups or I’d just miss completely. I worked on trying to improve my pitch selection and just get my confidence again.”
Learning last week from Wood she would need to make an impact this season while hitting higher up in the order also helped.
“I keep focusing on pitch selection and know I need to go up there with confidence,” Powell said.
Wiertelak, the lone senior on Waubonsie’s roster, is having fun taking more leadership with this team. She’s been in Powell’s shoes as well after making the varsity as a freshman.
“Freshman year is always the hardest because you’re making that jump from 14U to 18U,” said Wiertelak, who also plays travel for the Hawks. “No matter which team you’re on, it’s a hard jump to make.”
Wiertelak has been impressed with Powell’s improvement over the past year.
“A lot of it has to do with the work Addison puts in outside of practice,” Wiertelak said. “I see her at least once a week because our teams’ practice times kind of overlap. Her work ethic and development in the past year has been insane.
“She’s been able to make that adjustment within that year and so fast. It really makes me happy for her.”
Powell doesn’t believe she’s alone in putting in the work.
“We have a ton of underclassmen on this team, but we’ve really put in a lot of work to try and come together and work together,” she said. “We’re really focused on our confidence and bouncing back from mistakes.”
