Head coach: Quincy Moorman
2019 record: 5-24 (Lost to Apollo in 9th District Tournament semifinals)
How does it feel to finally have your season starting soon?
Last year was supposed to be my first season as the head coach of this group of girls, but Covid-19 hit. Needless to say, we are itching to get started. We have put in a lot of time and work, from voluntary workouts/conditioning in the winter to full-fledged practice this spring. We are seeing lots of improvements in practice and are ready to see how it carries over to the field.
What’s your outlook for your team this season?
Our focus is improving game to game. Success is for the finished product at the end of the season to be better than how we start. We are young and inexperienced at the Varsity level.
Who are your top returners (include year and position)?
We only have a couple of returners from the 2019 season. Two seniors, Kaylyn Sowders and Hadley Hughes, and sophomore Lindsey Gibson are the top returners who saw significant playing time in 2019.
Sophie Moorman (freshman) started half the season as a 7th grader so she has some varsity experience, though limited.
Brooke Keller (junior) is the only returning pitcher from the 2019 season. Brooke will be asked to carry the load on the mound and go deep into games. She is the only pitcher we have with any high school pitching experience at all.
Are there any newcomers that could make an impact this season?
We are looking for big things from our young group — we have to. We have Moorman and Emmi Connor (both freshmen) at critical positions in the infield.
Centerfielder Addison Hill (8th grade) will be asked to be the leader of a young outfield consisting of junior Morgan Turner and 8th grader Elli Embry. Turner and Embry have worked hard and made big strides through the winter months.
8th grader Kirsten Tindle and freshmen sisters, Paige and Lauren Hughes, are expected to see mound time and some innings at various positions.
What do you need to do to be successful this season?
The biggest thing we need is the girls to buy-in. So far it feels like we have it, but we have yet to play a game. We (coaches) already see the culture and mindset changing. We have girls who want to play and want to learn.
Another thing we need to be successful is simple: innings. Not only are we young, we have limited experience. We have a few girls who play travel ball and a few who play rec ball, but very few who have high school experience. We will be starting girls who don’t even have freshman/JV experience.
