Tommie Anderson begins his 4th season as the head softball coach at Forsyth, with seven returning starters from last year’s 20-7 team. Gone from last year’s Lady Panthers roster are graduates Tabi Parrish, Taylor Robertson, Rachel Kiest, and Alex Ellison, while Shayla Woodrum moved to another school.
“We lost a strong group last year and have a big group we will be losing this season,” said Anderson. “This group of seniors was forced to play a lot as freshmen when our numbers were lower. Despite the amount we lost and will lose, I feel like the program is in really good shape.”
Sydnee Cotter leads a group of five seniors who return to the starting lineup for the Lady Panthers. Cotter, who mans the hot corner, was named to several postseason teams in 2015: first team All-SWCL, first team all-district, first team all-region, and second team all-state. Cotter led the team with 48 hits, 35 RBIs and stole 35 bases.
Pitcher Sonjia Cotter was awarded first team all-conference and second team all-region last year. She amassed 10 doubles and 45 runs while driving in 32 RBI’s.
Cassie Scobee was a “play anywhere on the field” type of player for Anderson last year, earning second team All-SWCL and second team all-region honors. Scobee drove in 24 runs and scored 27 runs, having an on-base percentage of .628.
Rounding out the senior class are Jessica Carley, a catcher who had 28 hits to go with her 28 RBIs, and second baseman Kileigh Michel who scored 26 runs for the Lady Panthers.
The junior class is well represented as well this season. Pitcher Kelsey Harris was 8-1 with 3.5 ERA, while leftfielder Lauryn Stiffler was named to the second team all-district team. Both Harris and Stiffler will be asked to contribute heavily on this year’s team. Juniors Peyton Gillman (1B) and Annabelle Gray (C) and sophomores Karissa Chambers (Ut) and Kalea Transeau (3B) all earned varsity letters last year so depth on this year’s team shouldn’t be a problem.
Some new faces on the Lady Panthers’ roster this season are sophomores Dayva Cardwell (P) and Skyler Baker (SS/2B) along with four freshmen, Hope Borkenhagen (P), Maddie Frenzel (UT), Kyndra Drake (2B) and Carissa Fordyce (C/3B). These underclassmen will push the upper class for starting positions.
“Several of the younger girls are pushing to get into the lineup already,” said Anderson. “We also have a good mix of positions coming in as well. We are starting to get more girls that play competitively in the summers and I think down the road it will show.”
Forsyth leaned heavily on their offense last year but will have to improve defensively if they expect to compete for conference and district championships.
“For this group, that will happen only if we improve our defense and our strikeout to walk ratios for our pitchers,” said Anderson. “We leaned heavily on our hitting last season. For this group to contend for the SWCL and district titles we will have to be more balanced. Twenty wins is another goal for this squad.”
