Preview: Girls’ softball

By JERRY SCOTT/Staff

Bland County opened up its 2008 softball season last week with guarded optimism. After losing several talented players to graduation following last year’s best ever 12-4 campaign, the Bears’ Rich Hankins still feels he possesses enough individual talent to compete against the MED elite. Getting that talent to gel into a district contender is foremost in his mind.
Gone from last year’s squad is starting pitcher K. T. Green, third baseman LaShae Hall, second baseman Anna Laura May, outfielders Mandy Gibson and Kendell Stuart, and utility player Kimberly Harman.
“Green was first-team All-MED as a pitcher and will certainly be missed,” he said. “We will be hard pressed to replace any of those departed seniors.”
Green went 11-2 last year with 59 strikeouts. She was also a .333 hitter, getting 13 hits in 39 at-bats while driving in 14 runs. 
However, Hankins welcomes back a good crop of players, each bringing valuable experience to the diamond. Heading the list is senior outfielder Jessica Coburn and sophomore catcher Laurel Hankins.
Both joined Green on the All-MED first team last season. Coburn batted .394 with two home runs and 15 runs batted in.
Hankins was the team’s most consistent performer and led the MED in batting with a .588 average. Among her 30 hits were five triples and three doubles and she drove in 25 runs. She was named as the Bland County Messenger’s player of the year.
Also returning is junior third baseman/pitcher Morgan Brizendine and senior shortstop Cari Neal, both All-MED second teamers from 2007. Senior pitcher Danielle May and senior first baseman Adrianna Hutchens round out the list of six returning players.
Up from the 2007 JV is Stephanie May and she is joined by newcomers Erica Ellis, Kaitlin Kinser, Amy Hoosier, and Jessica Abel. All of these players should see plenty of playing time on Hankins’ roster of 11.
“As a whole, these girls are extremely talented,” the coach boasted. “We’re just going to have to rely on better defensive efforts to keep teams from putting up big innings against us. We have less experience pitching than anywhere else, so we’ll need to get consistency there to keep us be competitive in the district.”
Hankins notes that the MED traditionalists are again the teams to beat. Grayson County was the regular season and tournament champions last year and the Bears earned a two seed in the district tournament, getting upset by third seed and eventual tourney finalist Galax. Throw in a fairly talented Fort Chiswell group and the race for the championship could be a good one.
He’s confident in his group, however, especially if Laurel Hankins doesn’t have any lingering effects from an ankle injury suffered last week against Rural Retreat. That’s where the guarded optimism comes in.
“We have good experience and our top six players are very solid,” he stated. “Any of them could have a breakout year. I expect us to be very competitive every game, especially if we find ways to consistently put the ball in play and manufacture runs. We’re going to be an aggressive bunch.”
Here is the 2008 Bland County softball schedule:
Date Opponent Place
Mar. 27 Northwood Away
Mar. 28 Rural Retreat Away
Mar. 31 Rural Retreat Home
April 1 Pocahontas Away
April 2 Northwood Home
April 4 Narrows Away
April 8 Grayson Co Home
April 10 Tazewell Away
April 11 Galax Home
April 15 Fort Chiswell Away
April 17 Graham Home
April 18 Pocahontas Home
April 22 Narrows Home
April 23 George Wythe Away
April 25 Grayson Co Away
April 29 Galax Away
May 2 Fort Chiswell Home
May 6 George Wythe Home
May 8 Tazewell Home
May 9 Graham Away
GAME TIMES: All game at 4:30 p.m. with the exception of April 23 at George Wythe, which is at 5:00 p.m.