Ella Voit shows confidence as Cathedral softball sweeps Albany on Tuesday

ALBANY — Cathedral's softball team has clicked on all cylinders this season. The success has come from a foundation of defense, led by sophomore pitcher Ella Voit.

Voit started 20 of the 23 games last season as a freshman and has picked up where she left off for her sophomore year.

The sophomore had strong back-to-back performances in a Tuesday doubleheader against Albany. The Crusaders won 4-2 and 9-3 to improve to 7-1 on the season.

"I've gained a lot of confidence this offseason with just playing more often in fall ball and such," Voit said. "I feel like that confidence has rolled into this season and it's making me feel comfortable while pitching this spring."

It's rare to see a young pitcher start that many games, but Voit has the skill to control the game.

Head coach Todd Dingmann said her confidence helps when she's in tough situations. She also practices her game year round in fall ball and winter ball.

Voit said she focused this offseason on building a stronger variety of pitches. She tried to perfect her changeup and drop ball and feels more confident throwing those pitches this season.

"I really focused a lot on my changeup and trying to change speeds against the batter," Voit said. "It's been working well to start the season and I just want to keep improving my game the rest of this spring."

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Along with new pitches, Dingmann and Voit have been working on Voit's location. Last year, there were many times when Voit couldn't pitch through the opponent's lineup three times because batters caught on to her pitches.

Now, Voit is finding the outside corners or jamming batters on the inside to make it more difficult for opponents to know what's coming next.

"She's been paying a lot of attention to where she's throwing the ball," Dingmann said. "Her location of the pitch has been good this season and that's allowing her to strike out more batters."

Voit struck out eight Albany batters in the first game and another two in the second. The sophomore pitched a complete game followed by four innings of the second game.

The Crusaders capitalized on some errors towards the end of the first game that gave Cathedral a 4-2 win after Albany led 1-0 through the first four innings.

"So far this season, we've had a tendency to score runs at the end of the game," Dingmann said. "It's just early in the season and I know that will change as we get more games in."

Cathedral heard its head coach loud and clear as the Crusaders used its bats early on the second game. Once again, the team capitalized on errors, scoring four runs in the first inning and three runs in the second.

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"I have a great defense behind me and I know that if the ball gets put into play, they will get the out," Voit said. "We have a family on this team and it shows with how we play on the field each game."

That family has a range of experience, from eighth graders to seniors. Dingmann has put the four seniors as the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters. Since he's made that change, the Crusaders have a 7-0 record.

Senior Kailee Falconer went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and eighth-grader Tayla Vought had four hits and three RBIs in the second game. Katherine Bell and Sam O'Donnell each had three hits, while Rachel Dingmann knocked in two runners in the first game.

"We have a balance of offense and defense right now and I want that to continue for the rest of the season," Dingmann said. "We have a lot of games coming up, but I think these girls are ready to keep this going."

Cathedral will play four more games this week before playing another four games next week and five games the following week. The Crusaders will hit the road and play at Pierz at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Pierz will be a tough as the team is 7-0 this season and sits at the top spot in the Section 6-2A with Cathedral being fourth in the same section.

Then, the team heads to Caswell Park in North Mankato, where the state tournament is held, to play a tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Cathedral high school softball sweeps Albany, led by pitcher Ella Voit