By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Karsyn Smith enters her first season as West Plains’ head coach, but is already familiar with the Lady Zizzers.
“I was an assistant coach for one year (and) while at Drury I completed an internship with the team. I’ve been around the girls for a few years,” Smith said. “I think that was important in building the dynamic we have now. I’m super excited about stepping into this new position.
“We’ve also brought on our volunteer coach, Jake Webb, from last year, and added Madalyn Ivy, who just finished playing at Missouri State-West Plains as our assistants,” she added.
Smith is confident West Plains’ defense will be golden, much like a year ago when the Lady Zizzers fashioned a .909 team fielding percentage.
“Our strength as a team is going to be our defense,” Smith said. “We have some upperclassmen who have seen varsity time. We trust that they will be a guiding light to our underclassmen. Having upperclassmen that understand the dynamic and culture of our team is going to be extremely important. Being able to come together as a team is going to be important for these girls to succeed. We also have a lot of girls who can play a lot of different positions, which makes us very versatile.”
West Plains’ top returning hitters are juniors Jewelia Willard and Lily Dixon. Willard hit .274, with a .338 on-base percentage, and Dixon hit .233, with a .296 on-base percentage, last season.
The Lady Zizzers had a .233 team batting average and put up an average of 4.4 runs a game a year ago.
“I’m optimistic about getting our offense where it needs to be this season,” Smith said. “We are going to have to be gritty about how we can get runs in and take every opportunity we can get.”
Smith is counting on leadership from her five seniors, outfielders Emma Arnold, Riley Dawson and Tyra Henry and infielders Gracie Barnard and Stephani Hunsperger. Arnold, Dawson, and Barnard were all starters last year. Hunsperger and Henry saw some innings.
Juniors with experience include infielder Jewelia Willard, catcher Lily Dixon and outfielder McKrae Brewer. Willard moves from second base to shortstop.
Smith is hoping her seniors and juniors help West Plains bounce back from last season’s 8-20 record.
“These returners have faced a lot of adversity,” Smith said. “Seeing them persevere and put in the work is so admirable. You won’t meet another group that is willing to put in the work like these girls are.”
West Plains will feature a fresh face in the center circle, with each member of last season’s pitching staff graduated, and perhaps the Lady Zizzers’ pitcher will be a freshman.
“We have three freshmen, Jaima Bice, Cadence Tackitt, and Adilee Joyner, who we are looking at getting them some game experience in the circle,” Smith said. “We also have two juniors, Zoe Sharnhorst and Adie Dupler, who will see some time as well. We have an extremely young pitching staff, so I think just having them get the experience in the circle they need to be successful will be key.”
Making the switch from volleyball to softball and joining the Lady Zizzers are junior Zoe Sharnhorst and sophomore Haylee Ingalsbe. Other newcomers include freshmen Addi Talburt, Bella Bridges and Bailey Wake.
Smith hopes West Plains is in the thick of the inaugural Ozark Mountain Conference race.
“We’re super excited about entering the Ozark Mountain Conference,” she said. “We’re pretty familiar with the teams entering with us, which is good, but we’ll also see some new teams that we haven’t played before. We saw a lot of really good competition in the Ozark Conference and I think that’s something that we’ll see in the Ozark Mountain. I look forward to competing for that first conference title.
“I hope our team progresses by gaining experience and knowledge of the game,” she added. “We have a lot of young talent and just being able to get them the experience they need to be successful will be a big priority. I’d like to see our offense develop and be able to get timely hits. I’d like to see us do the little things right in order to be successful.”
West Plains will jamboree at Sullivan on Aug. 23, before debuting at the Morrisville Tournament a week later.
