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Youth movement: Lady Wolverines learning on the fly
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
There was no lack of experience on last season’s Wakeland softball team that advanced to the regional semifinals before a Game 3 loss to Ennis eliminated the Lady Wolverines from state contention.
Such isn’t the case for this season’s team, as the Lady Wolverines boast 11 freshmen or sophomores on the varsity roster.
“The beginning of the season has been a learning experience,” said Chris Southard, Wakeland head coach. “We’ve gone through some growing pains that have made us better.”
“Neither had pitched at the varsity level before this season,” Southard said. “Both have come in and done a good job though.”
The team has tallied a 7-10-1 mark on the season with Wester and Franco sharing the hill. The duo has gotten help from a junior trio of Haley Hicks, Emily Acuna and Jordan Swanner. The three returners join seniors Ashley McDonald, who has been sidelined with a broken collarbone, and Rachel Podenski as the most experienced players.
“It’s definitely an extremely young team,” Southard said. “We were very inexperienced to start the season.”
Despite that inexperience, the Lady Wolverines have gone 2-1 against District 9-4A counterparts after Monday’s 15-1 shellacking of Prosper.
“[Monday’s game] was one of the best all-around games we’ve played all season,” Southard said.
The victory marked the second consecutive for Wakeland after a 9-6 win against Heritage on Friday. The team’s only hiccup in district came during a 4-2 loss to Frisco that saw a two-run walk-off homer from Jasmine Frausto.
“I think 2-1 is where we needed to be at this point,” Southard said. “That keeps us in contention for one of the top spots in district.”
Wakeland will look to improve on that mark at 7 p.m. tonight at Centennial.
“Centennial is definitely one of the district favorites,” Southard said. “[Head coach Mike Dyson] always does a good job over there.”
Working in Wakeland’s favor this season will be past success that has seen the program become a perennial contender.
“They know the tradition of the program and want to continue to represent it well,” Southard said.
And although the Lady Wolverines won’t be looking beyond this season, the future seems bright for a team full of freshmen and sophomores.
“We’re definitely excited about the future,” Southard, “but we want to win now too.”
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