Page 6 - 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
CONWAY LADY WAMPUS CATS
Lady Wampus Cats to capitalize on varsity experience, coach says
BY DONNA LAMPKIN STEPHENS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Seven starters return for Conway’s Lady
Wampus Cats as they expect to improve on their 2016 mark that saw their sea- son end against Rogers in the opening
round of the Class 7A State Softball Tournament. Chata Hickey’s team finished 10-16 after the
11-0 loss.
“We were a young team last year,” Hickey said.
“We have grown a lot as players, in our knowl- edge of the game and as a team. We look for big improvements from how we finished last year.”
Rogers went on to the state semifinals be- fore falling to Bentonville, the eventual state champion, 3-0.
Hickey, the Lady Wampus Cats’ fourth-year head coach, said her team performed “a little bet- ter” than she’d expected in a benefit game against Sheridan.
“Defensively, we fared pretty well,” she said. “We’ve got people in new positions and some young freshmen stepping up who look to make it pretty exciting.”
Conference: 7A Central Coach: Chata Hickey
Assistant coach: Chad Longing 2016 record: 10-16
Mascot: Lady Wampus Cats Returning starters: Lindsey Williams, Bailey Beckham, Megan Solberg, Holly Stewart, Allie St. John, Shelby
Reed and Emily Cecil
This spring, the Lady Wampus Cats will look first to their returning starters: senior sec- ond baseman Lindsey Williams, senior center fielder Bailey Beckham, junior third baseman Megan Solberg, junior first baseman Holly Stewart, junior pitcher Allie St. John, soph- omore pitcher Shelby Reed and sophomore shortstop Emily Cecil.
“Solberg played in the outfield last year, and Holly switched sides from third to first,” Hickey said. “We fared fairly well against the defending [Class] 6A state champion (Sheridan in the benefit game).”
MATT JOHNSON/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Conway senior Bailey Beckham takes her turn in the batting cage.
She said the Solberg-Stewart moves were the major changes from last season.
“In the past, we had the other pitchers rotat- ing at first, but this is a good fit for Holly,” Hickey said. “She’s a phenomenal third baseman, but switching her to first helped our dynamics. That gave us a little more stability and helped shore up our defense. Solberg has a lot of speed, and that move helped our corners.
Williams and Beckham are the only seniors on the roster.
“That’s about what I’ve been averaging,” Hickey said.
Williams will play for Henderson State Uni- versity in Arkadelphia next year.
Hickey said team strengths this spring will include ambition, desire and love of the game.
Defense will be another.
“Most of these girls are on their second to third year of varsity experience, and they’re going to get to reap the benefits of that experience this year,” Hickey said. “We’ve got some young blood, but the others are leading by example and not letting the others get set up to fail. They’ve been real good at directing them.”
She added that while the program is always building, “I think this will be our first year to see all the changes come into play.”
“That’s my goal,” she said.
The Lady Wampus Cats’ weakness, she said, will be patience.
CONWAY SOFTBALL continued on 7VV