Plymouth softball club doubles for year two Results from week one:
PLYMOUTH — In just its second year, Plymouth’s girls youth softball club has surpassed the expectations for participation.
“We’ve doubled in size since last year,” said Andrew Dreibelbis, who started the club a year ago. “It’s beyond what I ever thought it would be in the second year.”
Dreibelbis started the league to offer youth softball players from kindergarten to 12 years old a chance to play a variety of teams outside of Plymouth teams. The girls play in Bremen’s house league.
“We felt that it would be good for the girls to have a chance to play other teams outside of just the teams here in Plymouth,” said Dreibelbis. “We didn’t want to travel hours away which is a little difficult for families sometimes and Bremen has several teams in their house league. We also play a few games other places around the area but not a lot and not very far away. We try to keep to 20-25 games.”
The emphasis is on fun and development for all the players.
“The question I ask at the end of the year is ‘Did we have fun?’” said Dreibelbis. “If you aren’t having fun there isn’t a reason to play at this age. Along with that it’s just great to see players who may have never played before get so much better as they go along.”
The approach seems to be a popular one with the players.
“I think the thing that makes me proudest is that we only lost one or two of the girls that played last year,” said Dreibelbis. “That’s the point is for them to enjoy it enough to keep playing.”
Opening day for the season was delayed a week by Mother Nature but the teams were able to get their first games in last week.
“It’s been better than I could have imagined to start,” said Dreibelbis adding with a laugh. “It’s still a manageable number but if we continue to grow we may have to make some changes.”
As the league grows, the need will be there for some volunteers, and coaches.
“Right now I coach all the teams but I would love to have volunteers step up to help out as we continue,” said Dreibelbis.
K-grade 2
No score kept
Red Panda Player of the Game Lucy Nieva Ruiz
3rd-5th
Plymouth Gray 5-12-0
Bremen Yellow 3-8-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Bailey Trump
Plymouth Gray 13-22-0
Bremen Orange 1-6-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Kodie Sexton
Plymouth Gray 4-14-0
Bremen Yellow 3-10-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Addy Master
Plymouth Red 0-6-0
Bremen Blue 5-8-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Alexis Dreibelbis
Plymouth Red 1-13-0
Bremen Green 9-18-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Audrey Bringham
6th-8th
Plymouth 13-7-0
Bremen Gray 14-4-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Chanel Flores
U12 Plymouth 30-9-0
Laporte Kingsbury 23-8-0
Red Panda Player of the Game Sydney Groves