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64th District softball lookahead: Teams trusting the process
Mar. 25—"You know, it's cliché, but it's everybody's goal to win, but it's a step-by-step process."
That's how Ashland softball coach Scott Ingram summed up the mindset for every team in the 64th District and the 16th Region.
It's a process that is just starting but will play out over the next couple of months. The key for these teams is to grow as much as possible before the postseason hits.
"What happens between now and Memorial Day weekend, when regions are, is just a step in the process," Boyd County coach Lance Seasor said. "Everything is a step in the process to get us ready for region. A record isn't going to matter, it's just stepping stones along the way."
As the seasons slowly change from winter to spring, the players of the 64th District are heading out to the diamond to get the season rolling, but are already laying the foundation they hope will ultimately give them a crack at making it to John Cropp Stadium for the state tournament.
For Fairview, the process includes doing something that hasn't been done in 20 years: beat Ashland or Boyd County.
"This district with Ashland and Boyd, that's a juggernaut," Fairview coach Bruce Gibson said. "It's been a long time since Fairview's beaten either of them. I think we're something like 0-50 or something against Ashland and Boyd. Hopefully, we can finally break that ice."
The process for all three teams in the 64th District includes improving on last year's finishes and putting their squads in position to make a run in the 16th Region Tournament.
AshlandThe Kittens had its share of ups and downs last year.
Ashland finished the regular season with a 7-22 record, ending on a six-game losing streak before the district tournament.
Despite their record, the Kittens took down Fairview and secured a spot in the region tournament, but drew the 62nd District champs, East Carter.
Ashland didn't blink, however, and took down East Carter, 6-3, in a win that Ingram hopes fuels his team this season.
"We obviously had some struggles last year," Ingram said. "But to go out in the region tournament, put all that behind us, and get that big win, I think gave us a bit of springboard to jump into this season."
The Kittens will look to stick the landing on that leap with a slew of returning players who have some much-needed experience under their belt.
Chief among them is starting pitcher Addi Laine, who threw the majority of the innings last year as an eighth grader.
Other returnees whom the team will lean toward this season are the Delaney sisters, Grace and Jenna.
The pair led the team in batting average among those with at least 10 at-bats last season (Jenna Delaney .368, Grace Delaney .346).
Jenna Delaney is another freshman who went through the growing pains of last year as an eighth grader, while Grace Delaney is one of just three seniors, along with Aubrey McCreary and Alauna Troxler, taking on leadership roles with the team.
"We let a lot of moments get too big for us last year, and I think that was from our youth and inexperience," Ingram said. "Being able to fight through adversity is important. We've been through some stuff now after last year and I think we understand what it takes to get through that. We've gained that experience."
In particular, Ingram hopes this team learned the importance of being a solid unit and not playing with trepidation through the trials of last year.
"We played with some with fear of failure last year," Ingram said. "I just want them to be fearless. We've got to do this together. That's kind of been my motto since August. You can't be separate entities, you have to be a team."
Ingram thinks the biggest obstacle standing in the way of this squad finding success comes in the form of the mental roadblocks the team might create for itself.
"I just want them to play," Ingram said. "Anything that gets in the way of that, like the fear of failure, just push that out. At the end of the day, this is a game. and it's a game that has enough obstacles to overcome on its own. We don't need to create any more for ourselves."
Boyd CountyThe Lions start this season with a new skipper as Seasor takes the reigns of the program.
He takes over a team that enters as defending champions of the district.
The Lions' postseason run came to a sudden end last year against Lewis County and the team's senior ace Emily Cole.
Seasor says his squad is ready to jump into his first year with both feet.
"This team is wonderful and they're excited to get going," Seasor said. "They're excited to see where they can go because they see the talent we have on this team."
Among the talent that the Lions will be looking to produce this season include 2023 hit leaders Jaycie Goad (53), Kyli Kouns (52) and Savanna Henderson (47).
Boyd County also looks towards Elyn Simpkins to make her presence known in the circle this year. She returns as the only pitcher from last year's team.
All four players have something in common. None of them are seniors.
There's a lot of youth on the team, but Seasor thinks they can respond and grow throughout the year.
"Overall we're a very young team," Seasor said. "But I'm looking forward to seeing if they can step up the challenge of our tough schedule and get better and mature over the season and see where we can go."
The Lions only have three seniors on the team, Maddison Badgett, Gracie Gilbert, and Elise Sparks. All three will look to serve leadership roles with the team as all three secure the outfield.
"The upperclassmen I have show great leadership," Seasor said. They're setting great examples for the young ones here. I think this year, you're really going to see a change in the results around here and they're a big part of the reason why."
Seasor says his squad has been putting in the work to get better long before the first pitch of the season was thrown.
"All offseason, open practices, that sort of thing, they were coming out and getting their work in," Seasor said. "They were eager to learn, showing up for extra practice, doing anything they could to get better and I think it's really going to show once we get rolling and the season gets started."
FairviewAny time you can end your season with more wins than losses, it's definitely a good thing.
When you can string those seasons together, it's even better.
For the second year in a row, the Eagles ended their season with a winning record. It's something that Gibson hopes to see his team do again.
"I'd love for us to have our third winning season in a row," Gibson said. "I don't know if that's been done here at Fairview before. If it has, it was over 20 years ago. We'd like to do that, and we'd like to be able to find a way to get to that district championship game."
If the Eagles hope to finally get back to the district championship game for the first time since 2007, they'll need to have another stellar season from their returning hit leaders.
They include junior Kailyn Adkins (39 hits, .549 avg.) and seniors Carole Shannon (36 hits, .450 avg.), and Annabelle Menshouse (35 hits, .507 avg.).
Adkins will also play in the circle for Fairview.
Gibson is happy with how the team is coming together thus far.
"The younger girls are getting more experience at being able to pick up the game," Gibson said. "It's always quicker when you first start playing; everything's so much faster, it doesn't matter what sport it is. But the game slows down the more you play it and the younger girls have more experience now and our seniors are being the leaders."
The Eagles will look to grow even more this season as Gibson made sure the schedule was a good challenge for his team.
"We beefed up the schedule," Gibson said. "We obviously have Boyd and Ashland twice, but we have Elliott County three times with the All-A, Lewis County, East Carter. We did that to help get us to that goal of making it back to the district championship.
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