Lady Pioneers look to youth
Warren County High School’s girls fast-pitch softball team has completed its spring practices and is ready to hit the field Tuesday, when the season kicks off at Tullahoma.
With a team of six juniors, eight sophomores and five freshmen, the Lady Pioneers will have to call on their younger players to literally step up to the plate and become team leaders.
“We have no seniors this year to give us that leadership on and off the field, so our juniors and sophomores will have to keep this team fired up all year,” said Coach David Upton.
“We are a young team, but we have a great group of athletes that are very dedicated and hard workers. They are going to have to mature as a ball team and this will take a little time.”
The Lady Pioneers have three pitchers this year, and although none of them have much experience at the high school level, they all have had good outings in the Pioneers’ six scrimmage games this spring. Sophomore Erica Warren, freshman Vanessa Cornelius and Brittany Bowdoin will carry the load from the mound this year.
“We have improved our hitting from last year and should be able to be competitive with anybody,” Upton said. “The girls are more confident and comfortable at the plate this year and we are hitting the ball with more power. We just have to keep everybody focused on what they’re doing.”
The Pioneer defense is still in question, as the Lady Pioneers have solid gloves and good arms, but are working to prevent making mental mistakes in the field.
“The girls have a good defensive inning, and then go back out and make two or three errors on one play and it takes us out of the ballgames,” Upton said. “We have to learn to think and know what we are doing out there at all times.
“They have to cut out those mental mistakes, like throwing the ball away or letting the ball get by them in order to be competitive. They are a good ball team and can play with anybody, the girls just have to have more confidence in themselves on defense.”
The Lady Pioneers played three games Friday night in the Coffee County play-day.
In the first game WCHS took on powerhouse Columbia High School. The Lady Pioneers hit the ball hard the entire game but got in trouble with several back-to-back errors that cost them in a 10-0 loss.
The Pioneers faced off against Tullahoma in the second game and fell short 8-3. WCHS continued to hit the ball and made it a close game until the mental mistakes cost them three runs in the fourth.
In the final game of the night Coffee County hit the Lady Pioneers for six runs in the first ending. WCHS hit the ball well and got several runners on base, but couldn’t capitalize.
The Lady Pioneers had eight errors in the game that were very costly and fell to Coffee County 13-0.
“I think we might have grown up a little tonight,” Upton said after Friday’s play. “We played some very good teams and were in all three ballgames until we made those mental mistakes. The girls know they can hit and play defense, we just have to start using our heads and keep focused on the game. When we learn to cut down on those mental mistakes we are going to win some ballgames.”
Tuesday’s game at Tullahoma is scheduled for 6 p.m.