Page 22 - RVO Diamond Roundup March 2017

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SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2017 | RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL REVIEW
CAC LADY MUSTANGS
Youth brings optimism for Lady Mustangs
CAC SOFTBALL
MARCH 27 ...........................@BAPTIST PREP* MARCH 28 ..................................MAYFLOWER MARCH 31–APRIL 1 ... @BAPTIST TOURNAMENT APRIL 4 ......................................... @ESTEM* APRIL 6 ................................... @MAYFLOWER APRIL 13 .......................................... ESTEM* APRIL 17 .......................... PULASKI ACADEMY APRIL 20 ............................... BAPTIST PREP* APRIL 24 ..................................... @LONOKE* APRIL 25 .......................PULASKI ROBINSON* APRIL 27 .....................................BATESVILLE
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
Schools in that conference include Baptist Prep, eStem, Heber Springs, Lonoke, Riverview, Southside Batesville, Stuttgart and Helena-West Helena Central.
BY MARK BUFFALO
STAFF WRITER
The Central Arkansas Christian Lady
Mustangs will have a young squad this season, but expectations could be high. CAC is coming off a 5-14 sea- son. The Lady Mustangs were 2-7 in the 4A-2 Conference. Their five victories came over DeWitt, Hazen, Newport, Helena-West
Helena Central and Little Rock Christian. “We have a lot of young players this year who come to us with travel-ball experience,” CAC coach Amy Zini said. “We have a new
pitcher, catcher and third baseman.
“I look forward to seeing what this team can do. We will have an improved offense
and stronger outfield.”
Conference: 4A-2
Coach: Amy Zini
Assistant coach: Lynn Brown
2016 record: 5-14
Mascot: Lady Mustangs
Returning starters: T.K. Kittinger,
Brynne Bell and Alyssa Pillow
CAC returns three starters — senior shortstop T.K. Kittinger, sophomore first baseman Brynne Bell and sophomore out- fielder/second baseman Alyssa Pillow.
Zini said Kittinger leads her team in sev- eral categories. The coach said Kittinger is the best hitter for average, power and has the best arm defensively. Kittinger is the team’s second-returning hitter for average. She hit
.318 in 2016. She had 10 runs batted in. She also had a homer and a triple and was 10 for 10 on stolen bases.
Bell is the team’s returning leading hit- ter at .340, Zini said. Bell had 18 hits in 53 at-bats. She also had 13 RBIs.
Zini said Pillow has the best speed on the team.
CAC’s best pitcher is freshman Katie Fox.
Zini said several players have college potential, including Fox, sophomore catch- er Shelby Blakely and freshman Kaleigh Kittinger.
CAC’s schedule includes conference games against Lonoke, Bauxite, Mayflower, eStem, Baptist Prep, Pulaski Robinson and Little Rock Episcopal. The Lady Mustangs will play in the 4A-2 district tournament.
CAC MUSTANGS CAC BASEBALL continued from 21VV
“We talk more about doing the little things right — playing the next pitch, playing the next game,” he said. “If you focus on those things, the bigger stuff will take care of itself. I really believe that if you focus too much on champi- onships, you’re going to get lost along the way. We say, ‘If you make an error, you’ve got to focus on the next pitch.’
“Ultimately, that is what everyone wants to do (win state). We just want to play our best baseball, play our next game, play better the next pitch, and whatever happens happens.”
This year, the Arkansas Activities Associ- ation has implemented a pitch-count rule for baseball pitchers. There are limits on how many pitches a player can make and how often he can make them. The most a player can pitch in one game with rest is 110. Cruce is a fan of the new rule.
“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s al- ways good to protect arms. Like most things, I think it will be tweaked a little bit. For us, as a team, it will be an advantage to us.”
Cruce said his team has pitching depth, which a lot of high school teams, especially in Class 4A and lower, do not.
“It is certainly going to make the state tournament and regional tournament look a whole lot different because you can’t throw a kid on Wednesday and bring him back on Sat- urday and have him throw another four or five innings like has been done in the past,” he said.
MAUMELLE LADY HORNETS MAUMELLE SOFTBALL continued from 21VV
MARK BUFFALO/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION
CAC senior pitcher Hunter Corbell warms up in the bullpen during preseason drills.
“It’s going to be different, but overall, I think it’s a good thing. I think most coaches in the state were pretty close to following that anyways.
“But anyway you can ensure that nobody’s arms get hurt, I think that is a positive thing.”
Taylor Martin, junior second baseman Irrianna Allen, sophomore first baseman Shelby Forehand (moving from the outfield) and sophomore Reagan Pierce, who moves from third to short- stop and will also be the back-up pitcher.
Senior Jorden Campbell will be the designated hitter. Sophomore Abby Clark will start in the outfield. White said three or four freshmen would have opportunities for playing time this spring.
He said the Lady Hornets’ major strengths this spring would be Almond and McNiel.
“Becca should be one of the top five pitchers in the state,” White said. “She throws it 65, 66 (mph) every time.”
Other team strengths include a strong infield and pitching and speed in the outfield.
“Hitting-wise, overall I think we’ll be as good as we were last year,” White said. “We lost two se- niors, but I think the others will step in. It’s going to take some time, but I think eventually we’ll be in a good spot.”
Weaknesses will be youth in the outfield and speed on the base path.
“I’ve got some young girls who are some of the more athletic girls we’ve had on the team,” White said. “They’ve got a lot of speed, and they want to get better. They ask to come in to work extra, and that’s what we need out of our young girls — wanting to put in the time. They are ex- tremely athletic.”
MARK BUFFALO/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION
Maumelle senior pitcher Becca Almond winds up in her delivery against Little Rock Christian.
With the Arkansas Activities Association’s re- alignment cycle for 2016-17, Maumelle remains in the 5A West along with Alma, Clarksville, Farmington, Greenbrier, Harrison, Morrilton and Vilonia. The league will play a district tour- nament for the first time, and first-round winners will advance to the Class 5A State Tournament.
For the regular season, the Lady Hornets will play in the combined classification 5A/6A District 4 along with J.A. Fair, Jacksonville, Little Rock Christian, Little Rock Hall, Little Rock Parkview, Pulaski Academy and Sylvan Hills.
Games to watch, White said, will include 5A West foes Vilonia, Greenbrier and Morrilton along with Sylvan Hills. White coached at Sylvan Hills prior to coming to Maumelle.