Sat Feb 11 2012
Youth and inexperience usually go hand-in-hand, but that’s not quite the case with the Franklin County softball team.
The Lady Flyers are coming off a 2009 season in which they were runners-up in the 41st District, won the 11th Region title, and went 3-2 in the state tournament. And FCHS only lost three players to graduation from that team.
“We have a strong, core group of kids coming back from last year’s team,” FCHS coach Tracy Spickard said. “We’re still fairly young. We only have two seniors – Dana Jarboe and Evyn Kemper, but our sophomore and junior classes are loaded with a vast number of kids.”
FCHS has 10 juniors on the roster along with seven sophomores. The rest of the team ranges from freshmen all the way down to sixth graders.
Among the three seniors lost to graduation – Madelyn Brown, Kelly Hogan and Abby Davis – the catcher spot held by Brown and Davis’ shortstop position will be the toughest to replace.
Sophomore Brandi Allen will see most of the time behind plate this season while freshman Macy Johnson will also see some action.
At shortstop, junior Sara Watts is expected to step in and Sydney Wiard, a sixth grader, will be her backup. Spickard described Wiard as having a lot of raw talent and was a “real keeper.”
“All three (graduated seniors) did a tremendous job and had been with the program for several years,” Spickard said. “They left some very big shoes to fill, but we have some younger kids that will step up and give it their best effort.”
At pitcher, the Lady Flyers return last year’s starter, junior Emily Hampton. She was named to the State Journal All-County team last season with a record of 25-15 and had 206 strikeouts and only 39 earned runs before the state tournament began.
“We have Emily back and that is key,” Spickard said. “She has proven to be strong and she has gotten stronger in the offseason and she is excited and ready to go.
“We did suffer a blow last week in that our number two pitcher Ashli Mayes decided to opt out this spring to focus on basketball,” she added. “That’s going to hurt us because our next pitcher is a seventh grader (Ashley Hack). We’re going to have to adjust and dig in deep.”
Mayes was also on the All-County team and batted .361 last season and had 27 runs batted in going into the state tournament.
On the offensive side of the ball, most of the Lady Flyers’ top hitters return minus Brown who hit .358 for FCHS last season with 32 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
Among them, Jarboe and junior Heather Redmon lead the way. Both were named to the All-County team last season with Jarboe hitting a team-high .405 with 11 RBIs and 11 doubles to go along with nine stolen bases before the state tournament. Redmon hit .248 with 18 RBIs.
“Dana Jarboe did such a phenomenal job for us last year and we’re looking for a lot of big things from her offensively and defensively,” Spickard said. “She’ll set the pace for us. We’ll also look for Emily Hampton to come on and Heather Redmon has been knocking the heck out the ball as has Lacinda Hack.
“Dana is going to be the leader,” she added. “She steps in and gets us going when she’s in that leadoff spot and the others tend to follow.”
The Lady Flyers will hit the field running this season with a tremendously tough schedule. FCHS starts the season at home against East Jessamine Tuesday then hosts Shelby County – ranked 20th in the preseason coaches’ poll – on Thursday. The Lady Flyers will head to the Ballard Invitational March 26-27, which will host five top-20 teams. On March 30, FCHS will host 13th-ranked Anderson County.
FCHS will head to Western Hills April 1 for its first district game.
On top of the tough schedule, the Lady Flyers have to deal with a No. 8 ranking in the preseason poll. With such a young squad, many coaches would be worried about pressure or even over-confidence, but Spickard takes it in stride.
“We try to refrain from emphasizing (rankings),” Spickard said. “There isn’t a whole lot of stake in those polls. We just try to focus on showing up everyday and working our tails off and taking pride in working harder than anyone else around us.
“If we can do that and improve on those little things, then by the time the postseason rolls around, hopefully we’ll be where we want to be.”
Lady Flyer Softball Schedule
March 23 East Jessamine, 5:30 p.m.
March 25 Shelby Co., 5:30 p.m.
March 26-27 Ballard Invitational
March 30 Anderson Co., 5:30 p.m.
April 1 at Western Hills, 5:30 p.m.
April 3-10 at Gulf Shores
April 13 Woodford Co., 5:30 p.m.
April 14 Frankfort, 5:30 p.m.
April 16-17 Capital City Showcase
April 20 Western Hills, 5:30 p.m.
April 21 at Dunbar, 5:30 p.m.
April 22 at Woodford Co., 5:30 p.m.
April 23-24 at Ky.-Tenn. Border Battle, Greenwood High School
April 27 at Frankfort, 5:30 p.m.
April 28 at Henry Clay, 5:30 p.m.
April 29 at Berea, 6 p.m.
May 4 at Scott Co., 5:30 p.m.
May 5 Lafayette, 5:30 p.m.
May 7-8 at Oldham Co. Invitational
May 11 at Lex. Catholic, 5:45 p.m.
May 12 Harrison Co., 5:30 p.m.
May 15 Henry Co., 5:30 p.m.
May 18 at Tates Creek, 5:30 p.m.
May 19 Pleasure Ridge Park, 5:30 p.m.
May 21 Triangle vs. Shelby Co./Boone Co. at Shelby Co.
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