Do it better.
It’s a message players on the Lenape High School softball team heard their new varsity head coach Eric Krastek say on the first day of practice and again many times throughout the season.
It’s a message the players even read when they leave the field.
“He printed those letters out and put them all over our locker room,” senior Cailyn Chow said.
For Krastek, his first season as a high school varsity coach is all about improvement as he takes over a team coming off three consecutive losing seasons.
Krastek is a familiar face for most of the girls on the varsity team. He coached the Lenape freshman softball team the last 10 seasons. This past offseason, Krastek was hired as the head coach for the varsity team, replacing Jim Scott.
“Most of them came through and played for me,” Krastek said. “There are two or three that skipped the freshman level, but most of them played for me and came all the way through. I have a good relationship with them and they are really great kids.”
“We know each other pretty well,” senior Kristine Reithmeier said. “It wasn’t a new thing having him come in as coach.”
Krastek has made a number of changes in his first year as head coach. One change was to have the junior varsity and varsity teams practice together. Krastek is putting an emphasis on building a multi-year program and not isolating each of the different levels.
“We’re really trying to stress that it’s a fluid program this year,” he said. “We’re having the JV and varsity practicing together here every day. There’s days where we’re having all three levels practicing together. It helps us as coaches to see who’s developing, who’s playing well, who’s not.”
“It’s kind of like a farm system like baseball,” senior Serena Lam said. “We want to keep everyone up to speed. We want everyone to play at the same level so it’s easier to transition when people get older.”
“Everyone gets a fair shot,” Reithmeier added.
Chow said team chemistry has improved a lot over the past few years.
“In the past, I wouldn’t say we had the best team chemistry,” she said. “But I think we’re improving on that a lot.”
Improving every day has been a big focus for Krastek. He has kept practices moving at a fast pace, with every player getting many repetitions in all facets of the game.
“We’re going to do everything a little bit better,” Krastek said. “Even if you think you’re doing things great, there’s always room to improve. There’s always room to get better.”
Doing things a little bit better will be a focus for Krastek as a coach as well. He admits there are a number of differences between coaching at the freshman level and coaching at the varsity level.
“It’s a lot quicker,” Krastek said. “Things happen so fast. I’m certainly learning on the go here. It’s going to be a process for all of us.”
Krastek added he expects Lenape to improve greatly on last year’s 6–12 record. He noted the program’s JV and freshman teams have played well in the past. Krastek hopes a mix of experienced players and some young standouts will gel for a successful season.
“It’s a different animal up here,” he admitted. “It’s a big jump from having success at the freshman level and trying to go up and have it translate.”
“They’ve been working hard,” he added. “We’re excited to get started.”
