62nd District softball lookahead: Teams hitting the learning curve
Mar. 22—East Carter made it further than any of its 62nd District opponents last season, winning the district title and picking up a win over Ashland in the 16th Region Tournament before coming up short against Raceland.
Off the heels of this success, East Carter coach Derek Calhoun is looking to see further growth from his young, but experienced team.
"With our team, we're looking forward to growth," Calhoun said. "We're very young. We have one senior and just two healthy juniors. Our lineup is going to consist of a lot of young kids. Two or three sophomores and a lot of freshmen and eighth-graders."
While the Raiders look towards its youth, Elliott County is hoping that they can be led this season by the two seniors on their squad.
"I've got two seniors," Elliott County coach Jack McDaniel said. "I want to give them their chance to shine. I named them my captains... it's kind of their time."
For Morgan County, who made it to the Region Tournament, this season is an opportunity to build on that success.
Cougars coach Eric Conley doesn't want to put the cart before the horse, so to speak.
"We're entering this season cautiously optimistic," Conley said. "We made a lot of strides last season. We did something we hadn't done in a long time by making the region tournament. I hope we've got our program going in the right direction."
West Carter, who hasn't won the district crown since 2012, has a large group of athletes to choose from when fielding a team this year. Coach Zach Stevens is glad to have that option.
"I have 18 girls out," Stevens said. "I have a lot of girls that can play. It's a good problem to have. We have a lot of girls who need and deserve time, but it's hard to find spots for everyone. That's not always been the case for me. Coming off the COVID season, I had just four players who had ever played before. Now I have 18. So, this is easily the most experienced group I've had."
East Carter
Last season, the Raiders struggled with injuries but still managed to see postseason success. This year, Calhoun hopes to turn last year's negative into this year's positive.
"You hate to see injuries, but some of those kids who might not have been ready last year have a year under their belt heading into this year," Calhoun said. "They know what to expect. They've seen varsity pitching and how it's different than JV. They've seen that difference and know what to expect already."
Calhoun hopes that this year's squad can adapt to the pacing at the varsity level.
"Even though we have kids with experience, we've got a few more that haven't gotten that yet," Calhoun said. "We have to get those kids up to speed on the game's speed. Varsity kids are faster. There are all kinds of different things you can do offensively. We have to make sure they understand the game."
Calhoun thinks this year's team is a versatile crew, which he hopes can have a strong outing on the defensive side.
"Defense and pitching are going to be our strong suit this year," Calhoun said. "We've got a lot of girls that are utility kids. I could name five or six kids who could play maybe five positions for us. and they may need to do that all season. We've got 12 or 13 kids on our team that could start anywhere. We'll have a lot of different lineups, and we'll switch girls in and out to see who responds well."
Elliott County
The Lions are looking to get over the hump this season.
After losing in the first round of the 62nd District Tournament, McDaniel hopes his team's mix of young and old players will be the winning formula to bring Elliott County sustained success.
"My No. 1 pitcher last year is a freshman this year," McDaniel said. "One of my seniors is my No. 2 and another senior is three. and we'll bring youth in with it. I have a seventh-grader that's starting for me. But, we're just trying to get the blend in together. We've made some young mistakes in the past, we'll hope we're past that."
With that mix of talent, McDaniel thinks it'll come down to getting the fundamentals right if the team wants to see improvement.
"It seems like we say it every year, but you have to hit the ball," McDaniel said. "You have to hit with these big teams. If we can put the bat on the ball we'll be good."
McDaniel will look towards four pillars to be the leaders for this squad.
"Senior Skylar Copley was on the All-Area team last year and an all-star," McDaniel said. "She's started since she was in seventh grade. and my other senior Katie Hutchinson keeps improving. I may play her at third base one night, centerfield the next night, and pitching the game after that. She does whatever I need her to do. and Hannah McDaniel along with Kristin Casto, my catcher, they're the four that have stood out and hopefully the young ones will blend in."
Morgan County
After making the region tournament last season for the first time since 2010, the Cougars will look to returning standout Taylor Sword to provide a spark for the team that not only returns them to the tournament but provides them a run.
"Sword is a big offensive threat for us," Conley said. "She catches for us so we're glad to have her. I'm optimistic about her future."
The biggest obstacle for the Cougars getting to a postseason run will be a lingering amount of inexperience.
"I think we still have a lot of inexperience," Conley said. "We're not deep at any position. I think that's going to be a challenge for us."
Conley's way around those shortcomings is to lean on whoever is on the mound to help lead the team.
"I think our pitchers have to step up," Conley said. "We lost Ally Spith last year, so we lost a wealth of knowledge and experience with her so we have to have good softball IQ."
West Carter
West Carter won six of their last seven games prior to postseason play last year, but the season started much rockier.
Stevens hopes that progression helped build the confidence of his team and his staff.
"Last year we kept getting better and better as the year went on," Stevens said. "We started out losing some close games and some by mercy rule, but getting that game experience helped us as the year went along. That builds confidence for our girls that did that. It also makes the coaching staff feel like we're doing something right. But you're building to the end of the year and not putting so much stock in the beginning of the year."
Senior Brandi McGlone had a standout year last season for the Comets. Another strong performance would go a long way in helping West Carter get over the hump.
"Brandi had a breakout year last year," Stevens said. "Defensively she was really good. In my opinion, she's one of the best athletes in this area, male or female. I'm looking for her to have a really good year."
McGlone's success this year will have to come within a harder slate of games than last year. It's an obstacle that Stevens thinks will make for a good measuring stick for his girls.
"We're playing a bit of a tougher schedule than we did last year," Stevens said. "We want to build so that we're in the top half of the region. This region is a good one for softball. There's never any nights off here. You have to show up and play. We want to come out and compete. We want to see where we stack up."
EAST CARTER
Coach: Derek Calhoun (12th Season)
2022 record: 26-7
Where season ended: 16th Region Tournament semifinals
Coach's outlook: "We set our schedule up to get us ready for the postseason. I think last year we laid an egg in the region against Raceland. We want to make sure this year that we're doing the little things to shore that up this year."
ELLIOTT COUNTY
Coach: Jack McDaniel (eighth season)
2022 record: 8-27
Where season ended: 62nd District Tournament semifinals
Coach's outlook: "We're looking to get back to the region. If I was ranking the district, I'd say East is one and we're two, but our main goal is to win the district and then go to the region."
MORGAN COUNTY
Coach: Eric Conley (fourth season)
2022 record: 15-15
Where season ended: 16th Region Tournament quarterfinals
Coach's outlook: "We certainly want a winning regular season. A district championship is a goal for us. We know that's very optimistic and out there, but you know what, we want to build."
WEST CARTER
Coach: Zach Stevens (third season)
2022 record: 11-17
Where season ended: 62nd District Tournament semifinals
Coach's outlook: "We want to be in the Region Tournament. This is my third year coaching and we haven't won a district tournament game yet. We're still building from scratch though. We want to stay out of that fourth seed in the district."
