Soon-to-be Fort Calhoun senior softball player Kaitlyn Welchert has spent the summer with the Omaha Warriors, her club team.
It's been going really well.
“I've been hitting the crap out of the ball, so I'm excited for high school to roll around,” she said.
Welchert and coach Mandy Taylor's Pioneers were all together early Monday and Tuesday morning for a junior high and high school camp, their first of two this summer. The team spends diamond time together all summer long, but this week's sessions were an extension of that.
Welchert said FCHS — which went 11-13 last season — worked on a lot of drills, focusing on both fielding and hitting. Team bonding is an important aspect of Taylor's program, too, though.
“I feel like it brings us together as a team,” Welchert said. “I know at my last school, we did nothing like that and the culture is way different.”
The returning starter joined the Pioneers in 2022 as a transfer student. She turned the opportunity into an All-Nebraska Capitol Conference first-team selection alongside teammate Sam Brewer. While Brewer hit at a team-best .470 average, Welchert finished with six homers, 29 RBIs and a .424 average.
This summer, Fort Calhoun has added a few transfers and new classmates to their lineup, too.
“The skill level, the competition level, seems to be way higher,” Welchert said. “So, I'm excited for this season.”
The standout anticipates an exciting senior season. Her four-player class gives FCHS a leadership boost it may have not had last year without a single 12th-grade player.
“I'm excited for what we can do for the program and where we can end it,” Welchert said.
The Pioneers second in-house camp is set for July 24-26 just before preparation for the 2023 fall season begins.
