OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – Rhianna Towler got into position and ready to field a grounder – but the ball took an unfortunate bounce at the last second.

Ouch! The ball smacked the sophomore infielder between the bridge of her nose and her eye, sending her to the ground.

But the Osan first-year softball player refused to be kept down for long, said her coach, Tyler Greve.

“Coach, is it OK if I come back to practice tomorrow?” Towler asked, her eye discoloring the whole time from the bad hop.

“Sure, you can come back,” Greve said.

“Is it all right if I go back to second base right now?”

“Uh … sure … go ahead.”

And back to her position Towler went, Greve said.

It wasn’t for long, though. Pending further medical evaluations, Towler is expected to miss between 2 to 6 weeks.

“But she’ll be back. She’s tough as nails. She’s resilient,” Greve said, adding that her bounce-back spirit is emblematic of a youngish team, populated by mostly underclassmen and first-year players.

“That kind of describes the whole team,” Greve said. “I’m excited. Things are really going well. I love this team.”

It’s the first time that Greve has coached softball; prior to this season, he coached baseball at Osan and Humphreys.

None of last season’s starters return, and there are but two seniors on the team, outfielders Skylar Lamb and Madelynn King.

The strongest addition to the team, Greve said, might be Emcee Amatorio, a junior outfielder who transferred to Osan from Rota, Spain, at the middle of basketball season.

In early practices, “there wasn’t a ball that got by her, she’s fast, she can throw,” Greve said of Amatorio. “She can be electric. She can be a sparkplug. We needed that.”

Junior utility player Belldandy Lamb is the “glue” that holds the team together, Greve said. Freshman Isabelle McKibban will likely open the season as the starting pitcher and freshman Losaline Ulukivaiola could fit in at shortstop.

A team as young as the Cougars must “find their failures and improve on them,” Greve said. “And they want to improve. I’m really encouraged. It’s really cool to see.”

Humphreys brings six returners to the table, along with a handful of newcomers who are not new to softball, coach Ashley Gooch said.

Six of the returners are seniors “who’ve been there before,” Gooch said. They include outfielder Gracie Farneman, third baseman Charolette Langley and pitcher-shortstop Lexi Montalvo.

The new players are each sophomores – pitcher Madison Marasco and utility player Amaris Rosales – and will play key roles along with the returners. “We have a lot of leadership. I’m excited. I know they’re hungry,” Gooch said.

Daegu also has a chance to be “truly competitive” in all its games, second-year coach Oliver Herazo said. The Warriors have experienced players, some returning from last year. Sophomore shortstop Alycia Porter transfers from Prince George (Va.).

Senior Alyssa Cruz will pitch and catch. Seniors Leanne Douke, Kellis Eisenhauer and Yairelix Lapaix will play infield spots, as will sophomore Kadence Thomas. Sophomores Reesha Aldan and Elizabeth Benjamin are also infielders.

Girls soccer

All three DODEA teams will be dealing with the departures of their top scorers from last season, Osan’s Tatiana Lunn (24 goals), Daegu’s Gina Kim (8) and Claire Anderson (12) and Syra Soto (11) of Humphreys.

Still, the cupboards aren’t bare where the Cougars, Blackhawks and Warriors are concerned.

Humphreys (8-8-3) returns 11 players, including senior midfielder Mieka Sablan and junior defender Sia Koch. They’re joined by a pair of newcomers who’ll boost the team’s level of play.

Amelia Gorski, a freshman, is far from new to the game, coach Scott Bittner said. “She’s a versatile, skilled player with well-developed skills,” he said, adding that she’ll see plenty of time on offense.

Joining her is Hannah Corrales, a junior who’s primarily a defender but whom Bittner says they’re looking to move up to offensive midfield.

Osan (8-10-2) also has some veteran blood in senior midfielder Clarice Lee, the team’s top playmaker last season with seven assists. Juniors Sofia Glave and Caroline Reeves are also back, along with sophomores Grace Williams, Lily Sanchez and sophomores Krystal Purvis and Camrynn Tuigamala.

Freshmen Brianna Lowe and Susanna Walsh will bolster the offense, while sophomore Molly Harmon and senior Ayden Hesseltine will play defense.

“We’re somewhat above rebuilding stage,” said Sung Plourde, the dean of Pacific coaches now in his 23rd season. “We’re hoping to see a stronger team from last year.”

Daegu (5-9-3) might face the steepest learning curve; only three players return, and 12 freshmen populate coach Austin Kim’s lineup.

Still, the Warriors do return their co-leader in goals, junior Denali Clites (8). Sophomore Leilani Rice returns on defense, while Jaeonna McClelland is an inbound freshman who played club ball in the States.

“They’re fairly athletic,” King said. “There’s going to be a little growing pain getting there. But I’m hopeful.”

Boys soccer

Quite a few constants populate the Cougars, who bring back senior twins Ethan and Cannon DiSanto. The two are four-year veterans of Osan boys soccer and will man the midfield.

Also returning is sophomore center-midfielder Reid Iverson, along with junior mid Aiden Machmer. Coach Michael Paul and the Cougars are hoping to better their 0-11-2 finish of last season and 0-13 the year before.

The Blackhawks (3-11-1) are also trying to improve on last season. Seniors Nathan Bahng (midfield) and Scott Herber (defense) return along with junior keeper Llance Ramos and defender Gavin Dunn and sophomore Aydin Henry.

“We’re going to do our best,” coach Lino Campos said. “We have good players who PCSed in, a good mix of people (who) bring in good skill.”

Daegu (5-8-2) must rebound from losing its two leading scorers. Still, a small core of three veterans does return, including junior captain Evan Son.

Ninth-season coach Robert Kenny says the goal is for the Warriors to match their accomplishments of last season, finishing in the top half of both the Korea Red Division and the Far East Division II Tournament.

Baseball

Where the Blackhawks will be hurting is a pronounced lack of DODEA opposition in Korea. For the second straight year, Daegu won’t field a team, nor will Osan this season. A lack of players is the culprit, athletic directors at both schools said.

Demographics is an issue at Daegu: of the 115 high school-aged students, just 50 are boys. Some are playing other sports, while others played in the fall and winter and want a break, Daegu AD Eric Oltmer said.

“We recruited heavily the last month,” Oltmer said, only for the Warriors to end up with five, the same number they had last year. “We can only control what we can control.”

That leaves only Humphreys, who depending on what games they’re able to schedule will have a wealth of experience and returners.

“We have no games right now,” new coach Derek Miller said, adding that parents of Blackhawks players who are half-Korean are calling around trying to find Korean schools to play. “We are trying.”

Eric Ji returns for his fourth season in Blackhawks uniform and plays shortstop. Junior Beckett Babb is one of two team captains and will play first base and pitch. Junior Donovan Brown also pitches and plays center field.

Junior Bradley Miller returns behind the plate; “We’re expecting big things from him this year,” Derek Miller said. Third baseman Jayten Abraham is the other team captain. Babb’s younger brother, Harper, can play anywhere on the field.

Contingent on how much game preparation they’ll get, “if we can come together as a unit and have confidence in each player to do their job with maximum effort, I see us making a deep Far East run,” Miller said.

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