It’s time for the chants and cheers as the 2011 softball season is here.
The Covington Cougars will make the short trip down to Valley Ridge to take on the Alleghany Mountaineers in the season opener for both teams.
The Lady Mounties are coming off a 17-8 season a year ago in which they advanced all the way to the Region III semifinals before falling to Amherst County, 7-3.
Coach Ty Dobbs returns nine players to his line-up with plenty of varsity experience, but has to find a replacement for pitching ace Stephanie Smith, who logged 129 innings on the mound a year ago and struck out 185 batters.
“We return plenty of experience to the line-up, but our big question remains our pitching,” said Dobbs. “We are young on the mound and none of our three pitchers have any varsity mound experience.”
Dobbs will turn to junior Kristen Rose along with freshmen Katie Holestin and Taylor Morgan to fill Smith’s shoes.
“They have all pitched in their softball career and Katie and Taylor have both pitched all summer, they just haven’t pitched on the varsity level,” said Dobbs. “I think once they get out there and settle in, things will be OK. It’s all going to come down to keeping the ball low and locating their pitches.”
Rose, an All-Region III performer last year as a sophomore, is the top hitter returning from a year ago. Rose went 34-for-86 (.395), recording a team-high 34 hits and scoring a team-high 26 runs.
Also returning are senior Eli McCutchen (.392), juniors Laura Peterson (.281), Cortnie Walton (.235) and Erin Durham (.235) as well as sophomores Maegan Walton (.367), Catie Carpenter (.370), Lacey Shifflett (.351) and Samantha Fridley (.268).
Newcomers to Dobbs’ squad this season are sophomore Jordan Spraker and freshmen Holestin, Morgan and Hannah Bethel.
“I think our strength thus far is the experience we return,” added Dobbs. “We should be strong defensively and offensively, I’m counting on us to be able to put some runs on the board.”
Dobbs still looks for Northside to be the team to beat in the Blue Ridge District.
“Northside is going to be tough, they always are,” added Dobbs. “They have a solid program over there. It seems like each year they have a kid that can throw the ball and that has been working at it for a long time. I guess until somebody beats them, they are the team to beat.”
Covington is coming off an 8-11 year in which they fell in the first round of the Pioneer District tournament to Parry McCluer, 5-1.
The Cougars will be without the services of All-Region C performer Autumn Phillips, who injured her ACL in basketball and will be out for the season.
“That is a big loss for us because Autumn is such a good athlete, but I think we have some girls that can step up and fill the void,” said Covington coach Leigh Ann Woodward.
Woodward returns six girls from a year ago, seven if you count Phillips, who will still be a part of the team despite not being able to play.
Shanna Woodward returns to the mound for the Cougars this season. Woodward pitched 60 and two-thirds innings on the mound a year ago, compiling a 6-5 record and striking out 91 batters.
Also returning are Whitney Crawford (.351, 20 hits, 13 RBI), Larissa Moore (.327, 17 hits, 14 runs scored), Kristina Huffman (.277), Kelsey Newcomer and Briana Wolfe.
Newcomers to Woodward’s squad are juniors Summer Richards, Kalynn Javins, Kim Roldan and Logan Sizemore along with sophomores Lauren Alban and Sara Tolley and freshman Brittany Keyser.
“We have had a lot of enthusiasm in the preseason and that has been absent in the past so I think the girls are really excited about this season,” said Woodward. “We also seem to be hitting the ball better in practice than we have in recent years.
“That has been our Achilles’ Heel the past few years,” added Woodward. “You’ve got to be able to hit the ball and get runners on base if you want to win games.”
Woodward looks for Bath County and James River to be the two teams to beat in the Pioneer District.
“If you can play with those two teams then you can play with anyone else in the district,” stated Woodward. “We are going to give it our all. We just have to make plays in the field and gets runners on base.
“I think with the pitching mound moving back three feet that it is going to give our batters a better chance this season.”