Softball preview

The girls softball team has a lot of new faces, from the head coach on down.


The new head coach is Jessica Weikle, and English teacher at OHHS. Although she had coached softball since 2002, this is her first year at OHHS and her first year as a head coach. Originally from Brookfield, Colorado, Coach Weikle came to Oak Harbor because her boyfriend is stationed here.

In Brookfield, Coach Weikle played softball for all four years of high school, then went on to play at the collegiate level, playing for 3 years at Colorado State University as catcher, and for a year at the University of Colorado.

Coach Weikle credits her dad for her love of softball. He was a NCAA umpire and as she relates it, “Dad gave me a ball”. He was a big influence in her life along with her high school coach to inspired her to stay involved even after her playing days were over.

There are five returning seniors, Kendra Wallace, Lauren Miller, Kim Mowbray, Kayla Ratliff, and Kaylee Meders. They will be joined by first-year senior Tanya Husler. Junior Emily Meagher will also be providing some on and off-field leadership. While it’s quite early in the season, Coach Weikle was been impressed with the play of freshmen Liz Hedderman and Brittany Johnson.

There are several goals that Coach Weikle has set for the team. First among them, and the motto for this year is “Believe to Achieve”. She expects the girls to reach that prime goal by being competitive and working together as a team.

On a personal level, Coach Weikle expects to learn and grow in her new role as head coach. She will be assisted in this by varsity assistant Lindsay Brockett, an English teacher at North Whidbey Middle School. Coach Brockett, originally from Stevensville, Montana, brings a love of the sport to the team. She will be valuable to the team as she brings some knowledge of many of the girls from her coaching experience in volleyball and basketball at NWMS.

Back for his 2nd year in Oak Harbor is JV coach Eric Showalter (no relation to OHHS teacher Todd Showalter). He’s originally from Celina, Ohio and is on active duty with the United States Navy. He’s played for over 15 years on various Navy slow-pitch softball teams, and for the last 3 years has been a member of the all-Navy softball team. Coach Showalter has been coaching longer than he cares to remember, and has been coaching softball for about 9 years. As JV coach, he doesn’t set much in the way of team goals, as he understands that his primary duty is not to win games (although that’s a goal), but to develop the JV players, getting them ready for their time on varsity. Last year Coach Showalter had 3 girls move up during the season from JV to Varsity. He will be assisted by Dustin Edsall, another active duty sailor.

21 questions with the coaches:

Coach Weikle –
Xbox, Playstation, or Wii – None – she plays the real sport, not a game.
McDonald’s or Burger King – BK
Comedy or Horror – Comedy
OHMS or NWMS – NWMS
Seahawks or Mariner – Mariners
Shop class or Art class – Shop
iPhone or Blackberry – Blackberry
Coke or Pepsi – Pepsi
House or Lost – House
Army or Navy – Navy
Boating or Camping – Camping
Running or Swimming – Running
Ford, Honda, or VW – VW
MAC or PC/Windows – PC
El Caz, Mi Pueble, or Estebans – Mi Pueblo
Math or Science – Science
Walmart or Kmart – Walmart
Cats or Dogs – Cats
Red or Blue – Blue
NY or LA – NY
Huskies or Cougars - Huskies

Something you probably didn’t know about her: When she was a young girl she always wanted to be a dancer.

Coach Brockett –

Xbox, Playstation, or Wii – Wii
McDonald’s or Burger King – Mickey D
Comedy or Horror – Comedy
OHMS or NWMS – NWMS
Seahawks or Mariner – Mariners
Shop class or Art class – Art
iPhone or Blackberry – None – old school phone
Coke or Pepsi – Coke
House or Lost – Lost
Army or Navy – Navy
Boating or Camping – Camping
Running or Swimming – Running
Ford, Honda, or VW – VW
MAC or PC/Windows – PC
El Caz, Mi Pueble, or Estebans – El Cazador
Math or Science – Math
Walmart or Kmart – Walmart
Cats or Dogs – Dogs
Red or Blue – Red
NY or LA – LA
Huskies or Cougars - Huskies

Coach Showalter –

Xbox, Playstation, or Wii – PS
McDonald’s or Burger King – BK
Comedy or Horror – Comedy
OHMS or NWMS – OHMS
Seahawks or Mariner – Mariners
Shop class or Art class – Shop
iPhone or Blackberry – Blackberry
Coke or Pepsi – Pepsi
House or Lost – House
Army or Navy – Navy
Boating or Camping – Boating
Running or Swimming – Running
Ford, Honda, or VW – Ford
MAC or PC/Windows – PC
El Caz, Mi Pueble, or Estebans – Estebans
Math or Science – Math
Walmart or Kmart – Walmart
Cats or Dogs – Dogs
Red or Blue – Blue
NY or LA – NY
Huskies or Cougars - Cougars