Softball Preview
Last season was a good one for the Orangefield Lady Bobcats as they advanced to the third round of the playoffs. That was the furthest the Lady Bobcats have gone in the post season in recent history.
Coach Rebekah Ragsdale graduated none of her Lady Bobcats from last season’s squad. Three seniors, two of which are four-year starters, return for Orangefield. Alyssa Dodd and Tiffany Ciancaglione were joined by Hannah Dupuis as leaders on the team for Ragsdale. “I expect big things from all three of them right there in the middle of the lineup especially Alyssa and Tiffany,” Ragsdale predicted.
Ragsdale has a strong junior class of six Lady Bobcats starting with returning catcher Emma Humplick. She will be big with the bat in the middle of the lineup. Humplick led the Lady Bobcats in homeruns last season. She is super competitive and someone the coach always wants to be on the field for Orangefield.
Returning to the pitching circle for the Lady Bobcats is Codie Sorge. She threw all but three innings last season for Orangefield pitching 185 innings with a 1.85 earned run average.
Shortstop Ryden Stanfield batted leadoff for the Lady Bobcats leading the team in hits and stolen bases. Ragsdale expects big things from her at the top of the Orangefield lineup this year.
Olivia Grant will be at second base which is a new position for her. Heather Mineer is the centerfielder for Orangefield and a leader by example for the younger Lady Bobcats. Bailee South will come to the softball field from the basketball court later. Ragsdale believes, “I think she’ll make an impact for us this year and play a bigger role than she did a year ago.”
There are some younger Lady Bobcats that will compete for positions on the varsity according to Coach Ragsdale. Three sophomores are expected to play on the varsity. Madison Hughes and Sadie Daigle are battling for a starting position in the outfield. Another basketball player that Ragsdale is anxious to have back on the field is Joli Ponfick. She will most likely be another outfielder.
A few freshmen could make an impact on the varsity roster for Orangefield. Libby Thurman has not played softball for a while, but works extremely hard. Harleigh Rawls is a third Lady Bobcat from the basketball team. “I have not got to see her play much, but I’ve heard great things about her, and I love the way she competes,” Ragsdale admitted.
Orangefield will be looking to swing good bats this year. Ragsdale analyzed the Lady Bobcats’ hitting will need to be very textbook this season. They will need to get their leadoff batters on, move them around, and let the middle of the order drive runs home.
The Lady Bobcats are working super hard on pitch selection, on good approaches, and good at bats. The bottom of the Orangefield really has to execute in those areas. “In order for them to get on base so we can get back to our top and get back to the middle of our lineup so we’re able to do those type of things,” Ragsdale summarized.
Coach Ragsdale has her ace in Sorge back in the circle for the Lady Bobcats and will try to give her some rest with Grant. Sorge is battling a little bit of an injury early so Grant will take some of the innings away from her.
Sorge will be the pitcher Ragsdale wants to go to in big moments as the season progresses. Sorge grew in that role last year from being a freshman to a sophomore, and now as a junior the coach thinks she has a lot of confidence and wants to be in the circle whenever the game is on the line.
The junior is very stoic in her approach with the same face whether up by several runs or trailing on the scoreboard. Ragsdale said, “I am excited to see as an upperclassman what she does, and how she rolls through the year.”
Orangefield competed in Class AAA last season. This will be Orangefield’s last year in that classification before moving back up to Class AAAA. The goal as it always is for Coach Ragsdale is another district championship.
The goal will not be easy to achieve as Ragsdale evaluated the Lady Bobcats’ chances of making another lengthy run in the playoffs. “We’re going to have a little bit of pressure on us, it’s all going to be on how we respond. It starts at practice every day, and it starts taking practice seriously, and every cut seriously, and just going from there,” Ragsdale concluded.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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