The slow pitch softball season ended last week with Bruce, Calhoun City and Vardaman coaches all citing progress heading into the fast pitch season next spring.
“One of the biggest accomplishments of this team this slow pitch season is getting a young group to believe they can win,” said Calhoun City Coach Travis England.
His team finished the year 13-5 playing as an independent.
“They have started to gain confidence in their own ability to play at a higher level,” England said. “Even in the games that we lost, we competed and gave ourselves chances to win. When things weren’t going good, we found ways to compete instead of giving up.”
The Bruce Lady Trojans, 2-11, completed their regular season last Thursday night with an extra-inning victory over Vardaman.
“Even though we only won two games, we accomplished a lot this season,” first year Coach Jordan Hall said. “It was a good opportunity for the team to bond and for me to get to know the girls as a new coach.”
Vardaman’s Lady Rams finished the season 8-7.
“We accomplished most of our goals that we set out this season,” Coach Josh Hegwood said. “We wanted a winning season and to have a winning record against county teams and we accomplished those things. We fell short on meeting some goals as far as division play, so that is an area that we must improve upon if we want to carry this program forward. Although, any time you can meet a goal or expectation it just adds to the confidence of the team.”
Fast pitch for all three schools will start in February.
“I am excited for our team this fastpitch season,” Hegwood said. “I think we are capable of being a really competitive 1A team. The areas that concern me and probably all coaches are good consistent play and depth. Aside from those things, I feel we have a good all around competitive team and can’t wait to get started back in February.”
The Lady Trojans will also enter the fast pitch season with high expectations.
“I am especially looking forward to fastpitch since it is a much more fast paced game,” Coach Hall said. “I look forward to working with our pitchers since that is my true love of softball. I believe our girls will truly shine during this fastpitch season and I look forward to coaching them.”
Travis England’s Lady Wildcats will try to carry the momentum from a successful fall into the spring.
“I am looking forward to seeing if the mental toughness that I think we have developed will carry over into the spring,” England said. “It will take that mental toughness to get over the hump against teams like Eupora and East Webster that have dominated our region for so long. Then you throw in teams like Bruce, Winona, Vardaman, Choctaw County, Water Valley, South Pontotoc, and an up and coming Charleston program, we are going to be tested every game. For us to become a top-tier team, we must be able to perform at a high level in pressure situations.”