By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Webb City softball enjoyed yet another successful campaign last season.
The Cardinals finished with a 17-20 record, falling to McDonald County in the district tournament.
“We started last season having only two players with previous varsity experience and starting multiple freshmen,” head coach Shauna Friend said. “I believe we gained a lot both mentally and physically from the year of experience and will be more prepared this year.”
Webb City will be led by a host of returning starters this season, including junior Laney Taylor, sophomore Kylee Sargent, sophomore Lily Hall, senior Dawsyn Decker, senior Jensyn Pickett, sophomore Alex Maturino and senior Sydney Strickland.
“Our tryouts and first couple weeks of practice will be very competitive to earn a varsity role,” Friend said. “We actually started 15 different players throughout the varsity season last year as they competed for playing time.”
While Webb City did not graduate any players, sophomore catcher Liz Rhuems will miss the season due to an ACL injury.
In addition to its strong returning core, the Cardinals expect a trio of freshmen to compete for varsity playing time in Addie Burns, Alvia Nieburg and Addie Sargent.
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While young, Webb City’s lineup is deep and battle-tested after a year of varsity experience, something Friend hopes will serve as an advantage heading into the new season.
“I believe one of our biggest strengths will be depth at many positions,” Friend said. “This will allow us to have multiple options in the lineup and keep our players competitive throughout the season.”
In the circle, the Cardinals will again look to Taylor to anchor a young, developing staff.
“We’re fortunate to have several pitchers this year,” Friend said. “Laney Taylor has done a great job as our main pitcher for the past two years, with Karsyn Cahoon getting quite a bit of varsity experience last year as a freshman. Jo Jarmin also got a few varsity innings last year as a freshman. We’ve seen big improvements from junior pitcher Addison Brown and sophomore pitcher Kenzie Wynn as well this summer. Avrie Allen led our JV in pitching last year. We also have two incoming freshman pitchers, Addie Burns and Alivia Nieburg.”
At the plate, Friend believes a disciplined approach will lead to better consistency and additional run-scoring opportunities this season.
“We plan to focus on good, quality at-bats throughout the lineup, as well as executing with small ball as needed,” Friend said. “We will strive to increase our team RBI stats and decrease our team LOB stats with timely hits. We will need hitters to step up with runners in scoring position this year and be determined to drive them in.”
Following an Aug. 18 home jamboree, Webb City opens its regular season Aug. 26 with a doubleheader at McDonald County against Quapaw and the host school.
