The future is now for Lake Shore softball

ST. CLAIR SHORES — One look inside of the St. Clair Shores Lake Shore gymnasium will tell you everything you need to know about the softball program.

The Shorians have long been considered a softball school with a dominant stretch of 14 district championships, four regional titles and a trio of league titles since 2000, and it’s been a point of emphasis for the team to maintain that reputation.

“Softball has always been our school’s biggest sport,’ senior Riley Lane said. “We have the most district numbers up in the gym. I think we’re the favorite in a lot of our games, but I know people look down on us because of our record last year.”

Lake Shore had a 3-7 league record last year in an unforgiving Macomb Area Conference White featuring league champion Marysville (26-9), St. Clair (19-10), and Utica (17-12), and graduating nine seniors didn’t do Lake Shore head coach Carl Agosta any favors heading into the 2024 campaign.

Momentum from another district championship win in 2023 carried over into this year, but when Agosta took a final look at his roster and noticed six incoming freshmen, he emphasized to his veteran leaders who know the expectation of Shorians softball the importance of guiding the newcomers.

“We started that (talk) in November,” Agosta said. “In our offseason conditioning program, we said, ‘We’re starting over, so you guys have to lead by example. You know the routine, you know the process, and you know the expectations, so come out there and just lead it. Back up what we say, and you have to back it up by example and with words.’”

Since Lake Shore doesn’t have a freshman or junior varsity team, first-year players are thrown immediately into the fire, but never this many at one time.

Lake Shore is sporting its youngest roster ever under Agosta, who’s been at the helm for nearly a decade, but fortunately for him, players like Lane, junior Ava Kersanty, and sophomore Sophia VanDenstorm understand how to transition the young ball players from their own experiences.

“They (past seniors) just brought me in and took me under their wing and really helped me,” Lane said. “That’s what I’m trying to do here, but I’m not trying to be so bossy about it. I’m trying to build a relationship and be nice.”

“I was the only freshman on the team, and they welcomed me in,” VanDenstorm said. “Everyone was nice to me.”

Lane, a four-year varsity player, has been a mainstay in the Shorians lineup and behind the plate as the anchor of the defensive unit.

The lone senior on the squad, Lane has a cannon for an arm that keeps opposing teams from testing the basepaths while VanDenstorm, Lake Shore’s clear-cut ace in its rotation, is the battery that keeps going game after game.

Lane, VanDenstorm, and Kersanty, who splits time between outfield and designated hitter, control the middle of the Shorians’ batting order, but the freshmen are already making a name for themselves early on.

In a 6-4 win against Warren Mott in Lake Shore’s season opener on April 4 at Mott High School, freshmen Chloe Scott and Miyana Williams held down a two-player outfield as Lake Shore had only eight players due to injury and illness.

Talk about taking your first varsity game head-on, Scott and Williams excelled in the task while freshmen Kendra Damm (3B) and Sara Augustitus (SS) provided some pop with their bats in the victory. VanDenstorm struck out 14 in the win over Mott and had the go-ahead RBI.

“The plays that had to be made, they just made,” Agosta said. “Did we have a few errors? A few — two in the whole game. Those were both communication errors, and now we know how to correct it and they know how to correct it. For the most part, what I can ask for is their attitude, effort, and energy and take to it and communicate. They all did that.”

Damm has never manned the hot corner before and Augustitus hit leadoff for the Shorians, so Lake Shore is wasting no time introducing its newcomers to the varsity level.

Mistakes will happen and adjustments will be made, but Agosta said he’s counting on their progression to elevate as they continue to work on their craft.

“Right now, the freshmen are eyes wide open,” Agosta said. “They’re afraid to make a mistake and they don’t want to ask a lot of questions, so by repetition we’re just working them.”

Lake Shore is currently 1-2 on the season with losses to MAC White rivals Utica and Marysville to open the season, but growth is all Agosta is looking for from his team.

Wins will come as the season goes on, and Lake Shore has always been strong when it comes to playing its best softball at the right time, and nothing less should be expected from this team when districts roll around.

“We just build from the beginning to the end,” Agosta said. “It’s never about one win. It’s about what we’re going to do at the end. Let’s build to the end, and we’re going to do that this year. It’s hard at first, especially when losses start to pile up a little bit, but they stay with the process, and they stay with the program. From there, they see that even though it’s not showing up on the scoreboard, we’re getting closer and we’re building. Where we were eight runs apart, now it’s a one run game and we’re right there.”