Coming off a historic season in which the 2015 Milton High School Lady Panthers softball team won the second consecutive district title and advanced into the second round of the playoffs, this year’s varsity squad believes they can continue make history for the school.
In his first year as head coach, Kevin Jordan said the varsity roster consists of returning talent and freshmen players who are showing strides on the field.
“We’ve got a good group,” Jordan said. “Even though there is experience on this team, there is some youth so we got some room for improvement.”
As of this printed edition, the Lady Panthers have a regular season record of 3-2. The team was shut out in losses to Tate and Crestview High Schools.
“In both of those games, we had opportunities to score runs, but we couldn’t get a timely hit,” Jordan said. “In the other two games against Washington and Choctaw (High Schools), we hit the ball extremely well.”
The Lady Panthers have also endured a few early season injuries, including starting catcher Caroline Worrell who suffered a hand injury in the first game of the regular season. Jordan anticipates having Worrell back in the lineup in the near future.
Jordan hopes the team will improve at bat and maintain a good defensive presence as the season progresses.
Despite having a new lineup and a new head coach, senior Taylor Forte anticipates having another successful season.
“We are planning to go to state and make it to the final four,” Forte said. “We got a lot of talent, so we are going to do good this year.”
As for the incoming players who are new to the squad, Ellys Willett, a junior, has little concern about how they handle playing on a high school varsity level.
“We got some freshmen and they have to transfer from playing travel ball. High school (softball) is a lot different,” Willett said. “They have taken it well because they have played softball their whole lives.”
Forte agrees adding regardless of grade level the squad needs to work together.
“I don’t look at them as freshmen or underclassmen, they are mature,” Forte said. “We look at each other as teammates.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Softball: MHS Lady Panthers look to surpass last year's success