Softball News — DCHS Sports

Dodge City High School Hires New Head Softball Coach

July 24, 2024 By DCHS Sports

The Dodge City High School Athletic Department has announced the hiring of Sabrina Hughbanks as the new Head Softball coach of the Lady Red Demons, pending Board of Education approval at the next scheduled meeting.

Hughbanks served as an assistant in the DCHS softball program this past spring. Previously, she was the Head Softball Coach at Ulysses High School, leading the Lady Tigers to their first Regional appearance in four years in 2023. While at Ulysses she also coached tennis. She is employed by the SKACD (613) as a Gifted Education Instructor.

A graduate of South Barber High School, Hughbanks was a state medalist in tennis and track, and was a two-time All-State 18A USSSA pitcher for KS/MO and a two-time All-State pitcher. She began her collegiate athletic career at Central Methodist University as a two-sport athlete in both Track & Field and Softball. She finished her collegiate athletic career at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree. Sabrina also has a Master’s degrees from Emporia State University

Athletics have not only been a part of my life but have also shaped who I am today. Softball specifically has had a profound impact on my life in numerous ways – teaching me invaluable lessons in teamwork, communication, and collaboration, which is essential in both sports and professional settings.

It is an incredible honor to lead such a talented group of athletes and be a part of this amazing school community. I am looking forward to working hard alongside our dedicated players, supportive parents, and energetic coaching staff to continue the tradition of excellence that Dodge City High School softball has been known for. I can’t wait to get started!”
– Sabrina Hughbanks, DCHS Head Softball Coach

Coach Hughbanks is a great fit for our athletic department and softball program. She is passionate about growing the game of softball in Dodge City and will be an outstanding leader and role model for the student-athletes in our softball program. We are very pleased to introduce Sabrina Hughbanks as the 8th head coach all-time at Dodge City High School.”
– Jay Gifford, DCHS Athletic Director

The upcoming season (Spring 2025) will be the 30th season for Lady Demon Softball. Hughbanks’ grandfather Glen Piper and Great Uncle Roy Piper were both exceptional athletes that graduated from Dodge City High School and later went on to teaching and coaching careers. The 2025 season begins on March 27 at Legends Complex against WAC rival Great Bend.

WAC All-Conference Softball

May 22, 2019 By DCHS Sports

Red Demons winning streak ends as Dodge City splits with Garden

May 3, 2018 By DCHS Sports

Red Demons winning streak ends as Dodge City splits with Garden

By: Shelton Burch

Dodge Globe Sports Editor

The Dodge City Red Demon softball team saw its eight-game winning streak end in the first game of Tuesday night’s doubleheader against the Garden City Buffaloes.

The Red Demons won game two of the doubleheader 5-3. They are now 13-3 overall, and 5-1 in conference play.

Garden City never trailed in game one, scoring one in the bottom of the first, three in the bottom of the third and one in the bottom of the fourth, allowing the Red Demons only one run in the top of the third, and two more in the top of the seventh in the 5-3 win for the Buffaloes.

Senior Grace Ruehle led the Red Demons with two hits and tied for a teamhigh one run in the first game.

Junior Caroline Williams had a hit, as did junior Madeline Kalscheur, junior Madison Armstrong and sophomore Zabree Rodriguez.

For the Buffaloes, sophomore

Yazmin Vargas had a game-high with two runs, and tied a game-high with three hits, tying teammate and junior Hailey Dart.

In a rare down-game, Red Demon freshman pitcher Raemie Lopp allowed 10 hits and four earned runs in six innings of action in game one.

She also walked three, striking out five.

For the Buffaloes, Dart allowed four hits and just one earned run in seven innings of play, striking out eight while walking two.

Despite the stumble in game one of the doubleheader, the Red Demons bounced back.

Like in the first game, the Red Demons fell behind 1-0, this time in the second inning, but they scored one in the top of the third, three in the top of the fourth, and one in the top of the sixth.

The Buffaloes got one in the bottom of the second to take the lead early, but didn’t score again until the bottom of the seventh, at which point the Demons were able to shut the door on a possible comeback, winning 5-3.

Williams and Kalscheur each had two hits, but freshman Raemie Lopp led the team with three in game two.

Red Demons to score a run, with Kalscheur, Rodriguez, Williams and sophomore Elise Helfrich all getting the others.

Ruehle had a hit in the second game, as did senior Shaylyn Turner.

In the pitching circle, junior Reagan Lopp pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs and eight hits, striking out four, and walking one.

The Red Demons head to Emporia for Tournament Friday. They’ll play Andover Central Friday, and Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest on Saturday.

Red Demons extend winning streak to 8 with sweep on senior night

April 30, 2018 By DCHS Sports

Red Demons extend winning streak to 8 with sweep on senior night

By: Shelton Burch

Dodge Globe Sports Editor

Temperatures hung in the mid to low 40’s as the Dodge City Red Demons softball team took on the Ulysses Tigers Tuesday night.

The weather didn’t seem to cool off the Red Demons’ bats though.

The Red Demons rolled the Tigers in the first game, winning 17-0 in three innings. They had to work harder in the second game, but won 12-2 in five innings, earning their fifth sweep of the season.

The wins gave them eight straight, and left them with a record of 12-2, and 4-0 in conference play.

Pitching wasn’t always perfect for the Red Demons, with the Tigers getting multiple runners on base. They were unable to capitalize however, and in the first game, the Red Demons made them pay.

The first two batters made it on via walk. Junior Caroline Williams made it on via a traditional walk, then senior Shaylyn Turner was walked when she was hit by a pitch. That brought freshman pitcher Raemie Lopp to the plate, and on the first pitch, she connected, driving the ball over the left-field fence to bring them all in.

It was her first home run in high school, and made the score 3-0 Red Demons. Senior Grace Ruehle then came up, and hit a solo home run herself, pushing the Red Demons lead to 4-0.

“I knew we were gonna have to be selective on pitching,” Red Demon head coach Ashley Podschun said. “I knew they were gonna struggle throwing strikes, so I told the girls to be patient, just look for their pitch, don’t help ‘em out. So the first two girls did a good job watching balls go by, they swung at some strikes but I’m not mad about that, and then Raemie comes up, she hits her first high school home run, so that’s kind of nice with two runners on.”

Lopp had a big day, Podschun said, and that she was super proud of Lopp.

“It’s nice going in, holding ‘em, and then going out and hitting and getting a fast five (inning win),” Podschun said. “It kind of makes you relax a little bit and kind of settle in a little bit quicker.”

After the first inning, the Red Demons led 5-0, but after holding the Tigers scoreless again

in the second, they blew the game wide open.

Senior Alexis Ontiberos led off with a walk, then Williams walked again, as did Turner to load the bases. Raemie Lopp came up to bat again, but she was also walked, which walked a run across to make the score 6-0.

Ruehle followed, and flew-out to center for the inning’s first out, but later in the inning she made up for it, hitting a grand slam.

The Red Demons ended up scoring 12 runs in the second inning of the first game.

In the second game, the Tigers scored two in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Red Demons scored one in the bottom of the first, but like the first game, most of their offense in the second game came in the second inning, when they scored five runs.

Of their 29 combined runs in the two games, the Red Demons scored 17 of them in second innings.

“We saw (the Tigers’ pitcher) for the second time,” Podschun said. “So everybody had seen her, so they didn’t have any surprises, and then hitting’s contagious. When one person’s hitting, then they can just pass it down the row. It just continues, so that’s kind of what today was first game, was just the contagiousness of hitting, just staying hot and passing the bat to the next person.

All five of their second inning runs in the second game came with two outs.

“I told the girls coming it we weren’t quite as focused, kind of overthinking our hitting,” Podschun said. “So I just told ‘em to settle in, and look at their pitch. Once they started actually swinging at the strikes and not the balls, that’s the result you’re gonna get.”

The Red Demons are next in action Tuesday May 1, when they head to Garden City to take on the Buffaloes.

Red Demons softball sweeps Great Bend to move to 10-2 overall

April 20, 2018 By DCHS Sports

Red Demons softball sweeps Great Bend to move to 10-2 overall

By: Shelton Burch

Dodge Globe Sports Editor

The Dodge City Red Demons softball team continued their strong start this season, sweeping the Great Bend Panthers 4-1 and 15-5 Tuesday night.

The wins move the team to 10-2 overall, and 4-0 in conference.

They’ll next take on Ulysses next Tuesday in a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

In the first game, Dodge City won 4-1, behind two runs, two hits and two RBIs by senior Grace Ruehle.

Junior Madison Armstrong, senior Jessica Olivarez and junior Caroline Williams all had a hit, and freshman Raemie Lopp had two hits of her own.

She also scored one run. Senior Shaylyn Turner finished the game with a run as well.

The Red Demons scored

one run in the second, two in the third and one in the fifth before allowing one in the top of the sixth inning.

In game two, Great Bend jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning. The Red Demons scored four runs in the second before taking the lead with three more in the fourth and eight in the fifth to win the game by run-rule in after the fifth inning.

Williams, Turner, Olivarez and sophomore Zabree Rodriguez all had two runs in the second game, while sophomore Elise Helfrich finished with a team-high three runs and team-high four RBIs in the second game.