New faces, same goals for Demopolis High softball
The Demopolis High School softball team is scheduled to return to action Friday following a 10-2 season-opening win Tuesday at Washington County.
The 2014 Lady Tigers look markedly different from their 2013 counterparts. A much younger roster, the only returning regulars from a season ago are Riley King and Jade Montgomery.
King, one of the team’s only two seniors, shifts from shortstop to first base, manning her third position in four seasons.
“She’s kind of the anchor of our defense there. She makes it look easy and gets it done smoothly,” Demopolis coach Joey Browder said.
As for Montgomery, she shifts from right field to center after another offseason of development.
“Jade has stepped up and we’ve moved Jade to centerfield,” Browder said.
Montgomery figures to anchor an outfield that also includes junior Cameron Thomason in right and a platoon of Zarquashia Taylor and Jessica Adams in left.
The team’s only other senior, Baleigh Grace, will see regular time at third base and the designated hitter position after progressing well from an injury that kept her sidelined for all of 2013.
“Baleigh has progressed leaps and bounds from the summer all the up to right now. We look for Baleigh to contribute significantly this year, both at third base and in the DH slot,” Browder said of Grace.
The remainder of the infield spots will be filled by a combination of Courtney Smith, Anna Caroline Logan and Adams. Logan and Adams figure to split time at second base while Logan and Smith split time at short. Smith will also share time with Grace and third base.
“Jessica Adams has looked good (at second base) and so has Anna Caroline Logan. They’re both sophomores, but they’ve been sharing time there. We’re moving the infield around a good bit,” Browder said. “We’ve got Jessica or Anna Caroline at second, depending on which look, we could look at Anna Caroline at shortstop. The other look at shortstop is Courtney Smith. If Baleigh is at third, then Courtney is at shortstop. We’re moving the infield around depending on what kind of strength we want at that time.”
Handling the catching duties will be freshman Abbey Latham, a player Browder said shows a mental makeup that defies her age.
“I see a player that is more mature than her age and really understands the game well and will do a really good job for us right there,” Browder said.
Coming off the bench for the Lady Tigers will be a number of players headed up by Holli Gandy, Rachel Smith, Nicole Wilkinson, Hannah Harmon and Julia Veres.
The trio of sophomore Hanna Malone and eighth graders Kendall Hannah and Natalie Tatum will handle the pitching duties for Demopolis.
“They all bring different elements to the game and we’ll be using them in a rotation,” Browder said.
As they ready to face the torrid early-season schedule that awaits them, the Lady Tigers will be tasked with improving on a daily basis.
“We’ve got to stay together as a group and we’ve got to continue to get better every single week. Every game, every week we’ve got to get better,” Browder said. “We’re going to take some bumps early, that’s realistic. But if we can stay together and pull together and keep getting better, we’ve got a chance to be really good at the end of the year.”
Accomplishing that task may come more easily than expected with such a young group as Browder cites his entire roster as players capable of providing leadership over the course of the season.
“I think that we’ve got leadership across the board from the eighth graders to the seniors. We’re stressing that it doesn’t matter what your age is or what position you play, you lead by example, effort and attitude,” Browder said. “That’s what we’re getting right now. You don’t have to be that vocal kid to be a leader. You just lead by example. That is working out for us.”
Demopolis is slated to face Tuscaloosa County, Vestavia Hills and Curry in pool play during this weekend’s Patriot Classic at Hillcrest High in Tuscaloos.
The Lady Tigers’ home opener is set for Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. against Brookwood.