The Russell County Lady Laker Softball team will have a new face as the head coach this season in Tonya Rexroat.
Rexroat, who formerly coached the middle school team, takes over as an interim coach following the resignation of former coach Scott Jones, with the plan as of now for Rexroat to coach the team this year with a coaching search to follow.
While there have been some changes in the coaching staff, this Lady Laker Softball team returns a lot from last year, a season in which the Lady Lakers jumped out to a hot start winning 10 of the first 12 games, but faced some struggles down the stretch.
The Lady Lakers finished 16-12 and were upset in the first round of the district tournament against Cumberland County.
This year, the Lady Lakers will be looking to take home the 16th District Championship and make a run in the region tournament.
They’ll do so with a talented group of returnees, despite some significant losses from last season.
Gone is pitcher Natalie Hart, who started 17 games for the Lady Lakers and finished with a 9-7 record with 95 strikeouts and a 3.26 earned run average.
Also gone is catcher Katie Owens, who finished with a batting average of .395 last year and 8 homeruns, and provided valuable experience on defense.
Also graduated is Camryn Woodrum, who played third base last year and finished third on the team in hits with a .363 batting average.
But the Lady Lakers have a strong group of returning players, led by seniors Sophie Shearer, Tarry Reynolds, Caroline Wells and Payton Kinnett.
Shearer returns as the team leader in hits (38), batting average (.447) and RBI (30) from last year.
Reynolds brings pitching experience from last year, appearing in 17 games and starting 8, finishing the season with a 6.83 ERA and striking out 34 batters while ending the season with a record of 3-2 with 4 saves on the season. At the plate, Reynolds also drove in 17 runs last season.
The center fielder Wells returns after batting .289 last year and finishing with 28 hits and Kinnett brings back 26 hits and a .329 batting average from last season.
Junior Emma Popplewell also figures to play a key role for the Lady Lakers, coming off a sophomore season in which she led the team in RBI (32), finished 2nd in hits (37), second in batting average (.420) and hit 3 home runs.
The Lady Lakers will begin the season on Monday, March 14 when the Lady Lakers host Adair County.
