When Brenda Leach took over as coach of the Steinbrenner Warriors, everyone was hoping for a good beginning, but they didn’t know exactly what to expect.
Leach is just the second head softball coach in the school’s history, and the team has never had a losing season since they began play in 2009.
So, when Leach led the team to its best season in school history, it certainly was a good start to her tenure.
(Courtesy of Maureen Famiano)
And while she expected a good year, even Leach wasn’t expecting as much as her team delivered.
“I had no idea that our record and accomplishments would be what they ended up being,” she said.
The numbers ended up being impressive no matter how you analyze them.
The Warriors compiled a 22-8 record, eclipsing 20 wins in one season for the first time in school history.
And while they won some close games, many victories were dominating performances. Steinbrenner recorded eight shutouts and scored 10 or more runs 10 different times. They began their season with 53 runs in their first three games alone.
While it is important to score runs and win games, those aren’t the only measures of a successful year.
If a team falls short in the district tournament, for instance, all that work won’t amount to much.
But Steinbrenner had its most successful year in that regard. The team claimed the Class 7A District 8 title after slipping past Wiregrass Ranch by a 2-1 margin.
The team then went to the regional tournament.
The Warriors have done that before, but after beating East Bay and Plant City, they reached the regional final for the first time. And while it ended that tournament with a 7-1 loss to Bartow, Leach remains very happy with how the year turned out.
“I’m so proud of all the accomplishments, so many successes this year to be proud of, it’s an amazing feeling,” she said.
While it was Leach’s first year at the helm, it wasn’t her first year with the school. She had served as an assistant the two previous seasons, so the players didn’t have to adjust to hearing advice from someone they didn’t know.
Still, Leach wanted to do things her way, and that meant both adding and eliminating some things from the program.
For instance, she added conditioning for six weeks before spring tryouts so the team would be physically ready for the upcoming season.
Before that, she encouraged all players — not just freshmen and sophomores — to participate in Miss Tampa Bay Softball, an unofficial fall league utilized by players who want to get in some year-round work. Playing together earlier helped them work as a team from the beginning, since they were already familiar with each other.
There were eliminations, too. Specifically, the bickering that sometimes occurs in sports teams. Leach wanted everyone to understand that there’s a job to do, and the Warriors weren’t going to waste time fighting with each other when they could be working to defeat their next opponent.
According to sophomore pitcher Emalee Jansen, it worked.
“We had a great bonding relationship, the entire team,” Jansen said. The Warriors would do things together outside of softball as well, like a dolphin tour over spring break. And when they won the district title, Leach invited them to her house to watch the game together.
Part of the team’s synergy came out of respect for their coach, Jansen explained. After playing softball at Gaither High School (where she won a state title in 1996), Leach was a first-team, all-region outfielder at Hillsborough Community College. She then continued her softball career at Ashland University in Ohio. Having an accomplished athlete guiding them gave the team an opportunity to learn from someone who had already achieved success, and gave them confidence in her approach.
“It was easy to relate to her, because she played college ball,” Jansen said. “She’s just a great overall coach.”
Leach will have a chance to repeat the team’s success next year with returning players like Jansen. Overall the team is losing just two seniors, and while they were important to the team, Leach believes they can fill those gaps and compete in the district and region again.
She also believes that the team’s playoff experience, including the loss, will help them going forward.
“These girls did not enjoy the feeling of losing in the regional final, and I think they’re going to come back more determined and more ready to work, and I think they want it bad as well,” Leach said.
Jensen agrees.
“We’re not done yet,” she said. “We’re striving for better achievements.”
Published May 13, 2015
