By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Troy McPherson was new to softball when he became Sparta’s coach five years ago. But he knows enough about Reeds Spring’s tradition to hope the Lady Wolves can return to the program’s winning ways from the mid- to late 2000s.
“While the records of recent seasons haven’t shown it, this truly is a strong program,” said McPherson, who takes over at Reeds Spring for 23-year Lady Wolves coach Scott Walker. “Coach Walker worked tirelessly for nearly three decades building this program from the ground up and it shows. This program has facilities that rival any in the area, a great deal of community support and athletes who are great young women, as well as talented ball players.
“What we are striving to build is a program that demands consistency, dedication, and intention,” he added. “To accomplish that goal, we must build an effective youth softball program and create a pitching program that will allow us to consistently produce pitchers who allow us to compete at the highest levels. I firmly believe if we can accomplish these goals, we can return this program to the levels of success that have been seen in years past.”
McPherson reports his transition to a new group of players is going as well as he could have hoped.
“The girls have responded extremely well to everything I’ve worked on with them this summer,” he said. “Our team was together nearly two to three times per week between practices and summer contests, which is quite new for this group. In our time together, they worked very hard to adapt to our new way of doing things. With every day we spend together, we are learning the importance of emphasizing the importance of each rep. Everything we do, we do with mindfulness and specific intent. These girls have been amazing to work with and have made this transition feel almost seamless.”
Reeds Spring’s pitching duties will be handled by Camirin Lee and Wynston Crain.
“Cami has worked tirelessly since the end of her freshman season, attending weekly pitching and hitting lessons,” McPherson said. “While new to pitching, she has shown great potential and has the work ethic it takes to have success in the circle. We will count on her to hit her spots, change speeds and allow our defense to make plays behind her.
“Wynston has the raw tools to be a very competitive pitcher,” he added. “With continued practice and hard work, she will be a solid contributor to this team. Wynston’s team impact will be seen primarily on offense. After a very solid summer season, we expect her to be a significant run producer in the middle of our lineup.”
Crain is among five seniors who figure to lock down starting jobs. The others are Jamie Valentine, Ember Dawani, Sedona Schrunk and Olivia Brunk.
“We believe they can all make a tremendous impact both on and off the field,” McPherson said.
Valentine, a shortstop, batted .493 with two home runs and 20 RBIs last year., earning her All-Big 8 First-Team honors.
Dawani, a catcher, was an All-Big 8 Second-Team selection last year, when she hit .309 with 17 RBIs.
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Schrunk hit .338 with a .434 on-base percentage last season
“Sedona will be a table-setter for our lineup and is the kind of player who can play anywhere she is needed defensively,” McPherson said. “Sedona is also one of our biggest threats on the bases and will be a threat to score every time she finds a way on base.”
Crain will play first base when not pitching. Brock is a utility type who will hit in the middle of the order.
McPherson is looking forward to what kind of impact freshman Grace Chastain can make. She is a shortstop, third baseman and center fielder.
“Grace is one of the most physically gifted athletes I’ve seen at her age,” McPherson said. “Grace is still learning this game, but has the raw tools to have a great deal of success.”
McPherson has experience competing against Big 8 schools in the spring. Sparta met eventual Class 2 state champion Mt. Vernon in the quarterfinal round last spring. Playing in the fall he will be introduced to a new set of Big 8 opponents.
“The Big 8 is loaded with extremely talented softball teams,” McPherson said. “With the limited number of Class 3 teams in southwest Missouri, nearly all of our conference opponents will be teams we must compete with in district play, which makes conference play that much more important. With so many schools of similar and smaller size moving to the spring, we are forced to play larger opponents to round out a full schedule. We are hopeful that playing these teams will help prepare our team to compete in challenging games both this year and in the future.”
McPherson isn’t placing undue expectations on his players.
“I have learned to throw all predictions and expectations out the window,” he said. “Our goals for this season are to simply learn to compete with every pitch, regardless of the opponent or the numbers on the scoreboard. This team has talent all over the field and will be able to compete with very good teams. I believe if this team continues to buy in to our message, we will be able to have a great deal of success.”
Reeds Spring will take part in a jamboree Aug. 18 at Hillcrest and open its season Aug. 26 at the Halfway Tournament.
