Bridge City had a great season in Coach Kayla Gallardo’s first season in charge of the program. The Lady Cardinals went undefeated in district and won 29 of 33 games last year.
Graduation has taken away some key Lady Cardinals, but Gallardo still has some quality talent to build a winner around. That starts with the whole pitching staff Kassidy Wilbur, Peyton Trapp, and Summer Black returning for Bridge City. The Lady Cardinals infield is all returning except for the shortstop. There are some positions to fill in the outfield. Gallardo believes, “We’re going to be just as strong as we were last year working with that.”
Coach Gallardo looks to infuse some new blood into the Bridge City lineup. Freshman Natalie Reed is an infielder who may see some playing time as the season goes on. Kyndall Harrison is playing basketball currently, but could be the Lady Cardinals’ shortstop as the season progresses. Chloe Halliburton is another freshman who may start on the junior varsity and then move up to the varsity later.
Coming up from the junior varsity to start the season on the varsity is Aleah McClanahan who the coach thinks could fill the hole of a big hitter in the Bridge City lineup. “She’s going to do great things for us,” Gallardo praised.
Several of the Lady Cardinals bigger batters have graduated, so that could mean a change in hitting strategy for Bridge City according to Gallardo. They will probably be more of a short game team this year. Wilbur is expected to still swing a potent stick. Coach Gallardo predicts, “We’re going to be just as good, and we’re going to be I think more evenly distributed throughout the lineup.”
Pitching should be the strength of the Lady Cardinals this season as Gallardo weighs in. The coach said junior Wilbur is great, and Kassidy’s goal is to be better this year. Peyton Trapp only a sophomore had a great debut last year for Bridge City and should get stronger this season. Rounding out the trio of strong pitchers senior Summer Black has experience in the circle, and her change in speed makes for a nice mix with the other two. Gallardo exuded, “We do have a great depth in our pitching staff that we’re looking forward to using this year.”
As the defending district champions Bridge City enters this season with the proverbial target on its back. Gallardo said that is fine the Lady Cardinals will be ready to defend their title. She states the team will take that target and use it as motivation. There are still tough opponents in the district with Orangefield, Silsbee, and Little Cypress-Mauriceville all fielding strong challengers for another Bridge City district title. “We know it’s never easy, but we look forward to doing the same type of success that we had last year.” Gallardo predicted.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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