“Last year I knew exactly what I had,” McMaken said of the group that posted a 19-10 record overall and went 11-3 in the Heart of Iowa Conference. “There was a familiarity … I just let them play.”

But that was last year. And now? McMaken has been forced out of his comfort zone.

It’s not necessarily a rebuilding year for the South Hamilton program, but the Hawks will certainly have a new look when they open the season on Monday at Prairie City-Monroe.

South Hamilton is missing seven starters — the six graduated seniors, as well as junior Hailey Diersen who moved out of the school district — off the 2019 club. Those players accounted for 193 hits, including 12 of the team’s 13 home runs and 46 total shots that went for extra bases, as well as 116 RBIs and 98 runs scored.

In other words, there are a lot of gaps to fill.

“We have girls that have been in the program for a while, but we’re going to be younger this year,” McMaken said. “So they’re still figuring out what my expectations are.”

The good news is that South Hamilton does return Jessi Harms, a senior who was one of the team’s top hitters and a solid No. 2 pitcher behind Taylor Volkmann a season ago. Harms hit at a .390 clip with 30 base knocks, including 12 doubles and three home runs, and drove in 17 runs in 2019. In the circle she compiled an 8-3 record in 12 starts with a 2.04 ERA. Harms struck out 69 batters in 72 innings of work.

Harms suffered a knee injury while sliding into second base late in the 2019 season that limited her pitching, but she’s healthy once again and will be called upon to handle the majority of the workload in the shortened 14-game regular season.

“Jessi is looking good … her confidence is pretty high and she’s got a great attitude,” McMaken said. “The advantage she has this year, quite honestly, is we have a short season. We’re going to ask her to do a lot of the pitching, but she’ll actually do less pitching than she did last year because of the shorter season. And offensively, Jessi will provide the majority of the power for the team.”

Anna Lammers will serve as the Hawks’ No. 2 pitcher.

“Anna has improved a lot from last year, so she’ll be a solid No. 2,” McMaken said.

Emma Lewis, a junior, and Mackenzy Grady, a sophomore, are also returning starters.

Lewis handled things in left field a season ago and put together a strong campaign at the plate with a .333 batting average. She went yard once, scored 30 runs and knocked in 15 more.

Grady started 28 games on the infield, primarily at shortstop, and also hit .333 in limited at bats. With both Diersen sisters now out of the program — Breanne Diersen was one of the six graduates — McMaken says Grady will make the shift to the catching position. That means South Hamilton will have new starters at the four infield spots.

Kaylee Oskvig and Brenna Barquist are two more familiar faces in the mix. Oskvig was a part-time starter a season ago, and Barquist served primarily as a courtesy and pinch runner.

The door will be open for underclassmen to vie for starting spots. Freshmen Kate Barkema and Zoey Duns should get plenty of playing time, and McMaken says there could be some eighth graders that earn playing time as well.

“It’s going to take the newcomers a while because going from middle school to high school is a huge jump, but they’ve got some talent,” McMaken said. “Once they learn to hit, they’re going to be pretty good.”

So it’s going to be different, McMaken knows that. There will be bumps in the road, and nights where the coach will be forced to scratch his head because of inconsistent play. But as long as his players maintain positive attitudes, McMaken thinks the Hawks will be just fine.

And so far, attitude wise, he likes what he sees.

“This is a fun group of girls to be around,” he said. “There’s a whole different feel to the team this year. Last year’s team was more business oriented. I’m not saying this team doesn’t have goals, but this team is a little more relaxed and I think that will ultimately pay dividends.”

The top priority a season ago was to win a HOIC championship, a goal South Hamilton missed by one game behind North Polk. McMaken knows challenging for the top spot this season will be difficult and right now all he’s looking for is improvement on a nightly basis.

“My goal would be to finish in the upper-half of the conference and we have the talent to do that,” he said. “The potential is there, it’s just how quickly can we realize the potential and grow up as a team?”

McMaken says North Polk will once again be the team to beat. The Comets return six of their top nine hitters, led by junior slugger Sydney Anderson, who hit .480 with eight dingers and 36 RBIs a season ago. However, they will be breaking in a new No. 1 pitcher after the graduation of Sophie Swygman.

Two years removed from a trip to the state finals, Roland-Story could be a formidable team as well. The Norsemen relied heavily on freshmen and sophomores in 2019 and bring back No. 1 pitcher Madison Geise, who is just a sophomore.

South Hamilton will face just conference opponents during the regular season.