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Can Ilaura Reeves or Sam Ahlstrom be this year’s Bonnie Heineken, pitching their teams straight to the state title game?

What exactly does Heineken’s old team, North Pole, have after losing a large senior class?

Those are just a couple of the burning questions that will be answered when the Interior softball season (finally) gets under way today with West Valley taking on North Pole at 6 p.m., then Eielson playing North Pole at 7:45 p.m. at the IGSA Fields.

Patriots coach Rod Avery will get his first glimpse of how his new-look team responds in a game.

The Patriots, who lost to Juneau-Douglas in last year’s championship game, lost six starters to graduation, including Heineken, who pitched in every North Pole game last season.

Only three players on the current Patriots squad played varsity last year.

“It’s going to be a few games before we get rolling, but I think we’ll be OK,” Avery said.

Junior Liz Hall will take over on the mound for the Patriots, and Avery said his team has been working hard on defense every practice to make sure she gets some help with the transition from JV to varsity.

“She didn’t get to throw too much varsity ball. She threw a little bit,” Avery said, “but she’s put in a lot of time in the gym right now and I think that’s going to help her.

“Right now we’re just working on getting the ball over the plate. We’re pretty confident if we put the ball over the plate, we can play defense.”

The Patriots return two seniors, Tasha Thomas and Nicole Chalstrom, whom they’re going to be relying heavily on early in the season.

“Tasha Thomas, Nicole Chalstrom, Liz Hall, they’ll probably be our big three, I guess,” Avery said. “They’re the ones with the most experience, that’s for sure. I’m going to be relying on them a lot.”

With North Pole in apparent rebuilding mode, Lathrop and West Valley are looking to take their spot atop the Railbelt Conference. And both teams think they have the arms to do it.

For their part, the Malemutes are counting on sophomore fireballer Ilaura Reeves to be back and stronger than ever despite coming off a broken wrist on her throwing hand.

“Oh, geez, I have no doubt in my mind she will step up to the plate,” Lathrop coach Shaun Sowell said. “Her and her sister (catcher Jordan Reeves), they pitched even through the busy times of other sports, two to three times a week. The only thing she’ll lack is a little bit of experience, but what she lacks there she makes up in intensity. I can see her being our Bonnie this year and hopefully the next two years she’s at Lathrop.”

But Sowell believes that her team has the hitting to back up Reeves should she have an off night.

“I’m really, really positive about us doing great this year from our very first batter to our very last batter,” Sowell said. “From one through nine, we’re solid.”

Sowell calls Jordan Reeves the team’s best overall player and said she expects Nona Letuligasenoa to provided power in the heart of their lineup.

“She’s an excellent defensive player and she’ll be one of our power hitters next year,” Sowell said of Letuligasenoa, their starting center fielder.

The Malemutes return eight of nine starters from last season, but have two newcomers who are expected to make a big impact.

Freshman Brittany Hillard has wowed Sowell with her power hitting and is expected to take over the role of designated hitter at some point this season, while sophomore Katie Solomon provides Lathrop with pitching depth.

“She can throw some heat,” said Sowell, whose team opens the season Thursday with games against Service and Chugiak. “Not many teams are lucky enough to say they have two pitchers that the coaches are comfortable starting any day.”

The Wolfpack have a pitcher they’re comfortable starting any day against anyone in Ahlstrom.

“Last year, we ran into a little bit of a problem where she wasn’t ready at the beginning of the season, she was ready halfway through,” West Valley coach Togi Letuligasenoa said. “We finished the season strong. This year, she’s strong from the start.”

The Wolfpack will look to replace one of their top hitters from last year’s squad after center fielder Christie Wisel graduated, but Letuligasenoa is confident he has players who can step right in.

Ellie Kadel will take over the catching duties and Katrina Lydon will play shortstop.

Jennifer Brand and Michaela Hale are expected to anchor the Wolfpack’s outfield while Stephanie Bluekins could come in and fill a hole in the outfield or at second base.

“We’ve had to put some girls in new spots, but with the talent we have so far, these girls have been tremendous,” Letuligasenoa said. “We’re looking forward to playing this season.”

And everyone’s looking forward to seeing how they stack up against the competition, which includes fellow Railbelt foes Juneau, Colony and Wasilla.

“With the region so tight as it is, with Lathrop and North Pole going to be good teams, it’s going to be a fun season,” Letuligasenoa said. “There’s never an easy game.”