FOXBURG, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Something with Bella Ielase’s swing was amiss.
It didn’t have explosion through the zone. It produced weak contact and a pedestrian batting average.
Ielase knew it needed an overhaul.
(Picture above, Bella Ielase/photo courtesy of Identity Studio and Design)
So this offseason, the junior on the A-C Valley/Union softball team went to work with assistant coaches Mike Meals and Kevin Wetzel.
They tinkered. They adjusted. They experimented.
They hit on something. The results have been striking.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
A small change has produced big results for Ielase, a student at A-C Valley. After batting an ordinary.256 last season, Ielase is leading the team with a robust .556 average with three doubles, a triple, 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored out of the leadoff spot in the order.
“Last year, I didn’t hit so well and this year I made a simple change with my hands and keeping my weight back,” Ielase said. “It’s really made a big difference. It just brings you a lot of joy going from hitting grounders to hitting the ball into the outfield.”
As a sophomore, Ielase’s hands would often roll over during her swing, producing weak grounders.
As part of the revamping process, Ieslase rotated her grip and raised the bat higher to give her more pop.
“Mike had been hounding me to stop rolling my hands,” Ielase said, laughing. “Since I changed my swing, I’ve cut down on that dramatically.”
Ielase has helped the A-C Valley/Union softball team overcome a slow start to the season.
The team is scorching hot right now, winners of three in a row and four of their last five.
“Yeah, our season started out kind of rough,” Ielase said. “But we’ve really changed it around.”
A-C Valley/Union can certainly hit. The lineup is stacked from Ielase at the top all the way down.
“Seeing your teammates all hit, it just really makes you happy,” Ielase said. “When once person hits, then the next one hits, then the next one — it just goes on and on.”
Ielase was determined to be a leader this season on and off the field, especially with an influx of players from Union in the first year of the softball co-op between the two schools.
She figured the best way to do that was set a tone at the plate.
Hitting is contagious and Ielase has been “Patient Zero” for A-C Valley/Union so far.
“I basically just wanted to focus this year on hitting the ball hard and making good contact and to be seen as a leader,” she said. “If I can hit the ball, that will influence my teammates to hit the ball. I just needed confidence and focus and this new swing with my weight back and starting the bat on my shoulder to take off.”
Ielase said the co-op has actually made the team closer.
After a feeling-out period, the new teammates found some common ground.
“You would never think this, but the people from Union and A-C Valley don’t know each other as well as everyone things,” Ielase said. “So when we first started together, no one really knew each other. Then as the season has gone on, people started joking with each other and we all connected. We’ve connected, oddly enough, through dancing and music. There’s always someone dancing in the dugout.”
That atmosphere has helped the team mesh in a way Ielase didn’t necessarily think was possible.
Now A-C Valley/Union has some high hopes for this season.
The talent from both schools has fit together well.
“I’m definitely grateful that we co-op for softball,” Ielase said. “We use a majority of them and they are very nice people and are willing to play anywhere and do anything that is needed. It’s so nice.”
Ielase’s play has started to get her noticed from college coaches.
But Ielase is also a standout volleyball player and that sport is still closer to her heart.
“For my senior year, I really want to showcase my abilities in volleyball and hopefully get seen by colleges,” Ielase said. “Softball has been the sport I’ve been better at, but I just have so much fun playing volleyball. I get down on myself less. It’s hard handling the failure in softball sometimes.”
Things, however, can change. Just ask Ielase and her swing.
“I’m having so much fun now,” Ielase said. “It’s bringing me so much joy.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
