Veteran East Webster softball coach Lee Berryhill thinks he might have a good team this year.
He just hasn’t been on the field to find out yet.
Due to wet weather and sloppy field conditions, Berryhill said there are still a lot of unknowns in this year’s squad at East Webster.
“I think we have six starters coming back,” Berryhill said. “We’ve got a lot of youth mixed in with those three seniors. At this point, we have lots of questions coming in and lots of unknowns. We have got to get out on the field and find some chemistry. With the weather, we haven’t been able to get on the field. We haven’t hit on the field or been able to even catch any fly balls. About the only thing we have done is pitch and hit in the cage. Hopefully this rain will go away and we can get to playing some games and figure it out by the time district starts.”
One of the things Berryhill does know is that freshman Lizz Massey is coming back after throwing 83.2 innings last year. She had a 2.01 ERA and struck out 71 and walked only 24 as an eighth grader. Senior Sidney Dewberry will return behind the plate to handle the catching duties.
“Liz will throw strikes and give us a chance to win,” Berryhill said. “She will give us a chance to compete and keep us in games. We just have to make plays behind her. She’s not overpowering and she won’t strike out a lot of people. But she will throw strikes and we will try to make plays behind her.”
Also returning for the Lady Wolverines is junior Coy Jennings, who led the team with a .455 batting average and had a team-high 13 RBIs. Curtlyn Blake, Josie Reed and Whitney Winter also return for the Lady Wolverines.
“We are going to lean on these older girls until we can get some work done,” Berryhill said. “Players are going to compete and we as coaches have to figure out what the best chemistry is four the team and get going. We just have to build around those girls we have coming back. We may struggle early, we just have to work our way through it until we find the right nine to put on the field.”
East Webster will compete with rival Eupora in Division 2-2A along with Bruce, Calhoun City, Leflore County and Northside.
“We are young but we are going to try and play the game right and keep the ball in play,” Berryhill said. “Eupora has the most experienced and talented team in the division. Calhoun City has good pitching and that’s two teams that will be hard to beat. Then it’s Bruce and us and it won’t be a lot of difference between the two of us. We just have to get out there and play hard and compete.”
