Page 38 - RVO Diamond Roundup March 2017

38VV
SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2017
| RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL REVIEW
MORRILTON LADY DEVIL DOGS
MORRILTON SOFTBALL continued from 36VV
vocal. Gracie also caught some last year.” He said sophomore utility player Mary Kate Kordsmeir is his best overall player and “probably
the best defensive player that I have.”
“I could put her anywhere,” Poteete said. Freshman Abby Bane will get the start at catch-
er this season.
“She is good defensively,” Poteete said. “She
throws it well and blocks well.
“She is learning how to call the game right now.
She is struggling with that, so I have to help her with that, but she is a quick learner. She works hard, and she really wants to do it.”
Poteete said there will be a lot of focus on defense this season.
“We really need to help out our pitchers,” Poteete said. “We have to make everything routine to our left and right and make two or three that we shouldn’t make to be able to compete.
“We have really focused on that. We’ve got to be able to stop people because we struggled with that at times.”
Offensively, Poteete said, this is probably one of his better lineups in a while.
“Kordsmeir is my best all-around player, and Maddie Adams has improved at the plate as well,” he said.
The nice weather in February did allow for Morrilton to get more work in than usual.
“We will be a better team in May than we will be in March,” Poteete said. “That’s what I tell them, because we play a tough schedule.”
Thanks to the new blended league, Morrilton will have to face teams such as Greenbrier and Vilonia in the regular season, as well as Farmington and Maumelle.
“Our conference is tough,” Poteete said. “There aren’t a lot of gimmies in this thing.
“Mountain Home, Searcy, Batesville are usu- ally pretty good, too. They didn’t do us any favors putting those in our league.”
WILLIAM HARVEY/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION
Morrilton freshman Shelby Tindal delivers a pitch.
Poteete said that while getting better every day is the main focus, it is a little frustrating how the whole season comes down to one game.
“Just improve every day,” he said. “With us being so young in a lot of spots and on the mound, that’s what we’ve got to do — get ready for the district tournament in May.
“We are going to play all these games, and it doesn’t matter if you win them all or lose them all. If you don’t win that one, you’re done.”
“I hate that the whole year comes down to one game. I don’t know how fair that is.”
MORRILTON SOFTBALL
MARCH 28 ....................................@SEARCY* MARCH 30 ..............................@CLARKSVILLE APRIL 3 .................................. @GREENBRIER APRIL 4 ............................ MOUNTAIN HOME* APRIL 6 ......................................@HARRISON APRIL 7 ................................ @RUSSELLVILLE APRIL 11 .................................GREENBRIER* APRIL 13 ........................................@VILONIA APRIL 14 ................................... SPRINGDALE APRIL 18 ........................................@BEEBE* APRIL 20 ....................................MAUMELLE* APRIL 24 ........................................@BEEBE* APRIL 25 ................................ @DARDANELLE
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA SOFTBALL
MARCH 27 ....................................@QUITMAN MARCH 30 .............................. GUY-PERKINS* MARCH 31 .............................ABUNDANT LIFE APRIL 3 ................................. @NEMO VISTA* APRIL 4 ......................................... CONCORD
APRIL 6 ............................... SACRED HEART* APRIL 10 .............@SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH APRIL 13 ................................WONDERVIEW* APRIL 17 ......................................@BIGELOW
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA BASEBALL
MARCH 27 ....................................@QUITMAN MARCH 30 .............................. GUY-PERKINS* MARCH 31 .............................ABUNDANT LIFE APRIL 3 ................................. @NEMO VISTA* APRIL 4 ......................................... CONCORD
APRIL 6 ............................... SACRED HEART* APRIL 10 .............@SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH APRIL 13 ................................WONDERVIEW* APRIL 17 ......................................@BIGELOW
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES