By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Joplin is counting on its Talon Softball Program, with an assist from several Missouri Southern State players, to produce enough talent for the Lady Eagles to develop into a winner.
With an eye on the Lady Eagles’ future, second-year Joplin coach Manny Flores started Talon at the 18-and-under, 14U, 12U and 8U levels this summer. Joplin has finished each of the last four seasons below .500 and was 6-20 last season.
“We were lucky enough to get our summer feeder program started,” Flores said. “We wanted the girls in Joplin to be able to play together. We had seven freshmen play on our 14U team. It’s a start. We’re hoping our Talon pipeline helps us bridge the gap.”
As a bonus, Missouri Southern State players helped coach Talon.
“It’s tremendous to have NCAA D-II softball players coaching you,” Flores said. “We had the unique opportunity to learn from them and ask them anything. What more could you ask for as a high school player?”
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The freshmen Flores referred to could make an immediate impact. Bailey Ledford leads the newcomers and is versatile enough to give Flores options on where to position her.
“Bailey is a middle infielder who we can plug in anywhere,” he said. “She’s athletic and has some speed. I would feel comfortable with her in the middle infield, third base or the outfield.”
Freshman first baseman Abby McGinnis and freshman outfielder Peyton Meadows could find their way into the starting lineup.
Flores reports Joplin has been averaging 10 freshmen at its summer weights program.
“It’s an exciting group,” he said. “They’re pushing the older girls to get better.”
Flores adds he doesn’t judge his players by what class they are in.
“We have open competition for all of our spots and I’m not afraid to play a freshman or a senior,” he said. “We want to show our best nine. We could be really young. We have potential to start three or four freshmen and a couple sophomores.”
Sophomore Jill McDaniel, junior Madisyn Tracy and senior Brittany Shyock are Joplin’s pitchers. McDaniel gained 65 innings of experience in the center circle as a freshman last year.
“Jill is really good at staying level-headed,” Flores said. “She doesn’t get rattled. She lets the other team put the ball in play. Our defense has to do a better job this year, as far as making the routine plays behind her.
“Maddy has gotten into pitching and has been working on some things,” he added. “She’s really come on. She ate up some innings for Talon this summer as a bulldog who threw strikes. She lets our defense play.”
Flores said it’s too early to tell if McDaniel and Tracy will split the pitching duties or if one of them assumes the role of an ace.
“We’ll do what’s best for our team,” Flores said. “If that means we have a pitcher by committee, that’s what we’ll do. Or if we have one girl who takes it and runs with it as far as being our number one, we’ll let that play out.”
Tracy, who is an infielder when not pitching, is Joplin’s leading returning hitter. She posted a .250 batting average last year.
Other returning starters include sophomore middle infielder Izzy Yust and senior outfielder Tatum Stockstill.
“I’m expecting big things from Izzy,” Flores said.
Joplin endured an 0-10 start last season, before recording its most notable win, a 7-6 COC victory against a 15-win Nixa team. The Lady Eagles later knocked off an 18-win Reeds Spring outfit.
“The big thing for us is getting a mental edge,” Flores said. “We have to have the understanding that when we show up and control what we can control and give 100-percent effort, we can be competitive every day against anybody. Nixa is a good team and right before that game we had one of our better players go down with an ankle injury. We rallied together and played team softball to have one of our best games of the year.”
Flores feels much more at ease in his second season coaching the Lady Eagles than he did a year ago.
“I’m a lot more settled in,” Flores said. “Last year was a pretty crazy summer. We moved from St. Louis the first week of June, had a kid two weeks later and moved into a house three days after that. Getting a year under my belt here, I’m a lot more comfortable. I don’t think I could have landed in a better spot. The support from our administration has been incredible.”
