Iowa State softball competed in the JoAnne Graf Classic last weekend and went 1-4, but now the focus shifts to this weekend’s Demarini Invitational in Palo Alto, California.

Cyclones are looking to maintain positive energy in games

The Cyclones started off the season on a good note with a victory over the University of North Carolina Greensboro Spartans and nearly upsetting No. 1 Florida State on Friday.

“Friday we played like I think our team is capable of,” said junior infielder Logan Schaben. “On Friday we came out guns ready, firing, and we definitely need to keep that energy throughout and I think we’ll do great.”

However, the Cyclones went 0-3 on Saturday and Sunday and the Cyclones now need to pick themselves up after a couple of losses, if they want to improve this season.

Freshman pitcher emerging

During Saturday’s game against the Seminoles, there was a new face on the mound for the Cyclones, freshman Shannon Mortimer.

“It was definitely something else,” said Mortimer. “I was a little nervous but also pretty excited, so that took over.”

The South Grafton, Massachusetts, native was ranked in the top 140 players in her high school class by FloSoftball. She was also named to the all-state first team three times and was a Gatorade Player of the year finalist.

“Shannon is probably in a key position to [play] quite a bit,” said coach Jamie Pinkerton. “I think she’ll be a major cog in a what we are doing because she has to be with two of our pitchers being seniors, and you really need three or four pitchers to be successful.”

Mortimer made two appearances in the JoAnne Graf Classic for the Cyclones and went 0-2.

A few more freshman to look out for this season

Along with Mortimer, freshman infielder Kasey Simpson and catchers Kaitlyn Moses and Mikayla Ramos made their debuts in the JoAnne Graf Classic.

With the Cyclones having eight seniors in their starting lineup, the underclassmen should be able to learn from the upperclassmen and step in when the time comes. 

“Their roles are still to be defined,”  Pinkerton said. “Any of them of them could step in at any time.”

The way Pinkerton seems to see it is that getting these freshmen some playing time early on could be very valuable for those players down the line.

“We want to play them because eventually these seniors are going to leave, and we want them [the freshmen] to [have] some experience under their belt,” Pinkerton said. “We got to pick and choose the best place for them.”