|
|
|
After a 10-year breather, Tray Shaddox is ready to give this whole head coaching thing another try.
“I started the program with Renee Smith, coach Lee Smith’s wife, in 1995 and I coached for five years. I got out for about ten years because my kids were playing sports and I was missing getting to watch them so I got out of it,” McDonald County softball coach Shaddox said. “I told the administration at the time that if the opportunity ever arose for me to get back into it I would like that. Two years ago, Coach (Dinah) McCall came to me and asked if I would be her assistant and I jumped at that chance. I enjoyed working with Coach McCall, she was my assistant in my last year (1999) and we got along well together. I have really enjoyed being her assistant the last two years.”
Now, Shaddox takes the reins of a team that was a single win away from winning a district championship in 2010. And his goals for the 2011 season are lofty ones.
“Well we lost two good girls in Sam Meador at shortstop and Hailey Turner at catcher, but we have a lot of good young talent coming up and I feel like we have every chance to be as good as we were last year if not better,” Shaddox said. “I told the girls the first day of practice that my expectations are way up there and there’s no reason that we don’t have a chance to win our district tournament and go on and play at state. We feel like, if we can win our district, we’ve got a good chance to go all the way.”
If the Lady Mustangs can make good on that potential, it will most likely start with their pitching. McDonald County returns two experienced hurlers in 2011 in Sarah Rickman, a junior, and Taylor Pearcy, a senior.
“Sarah Rickman and Taylor Pearcy are both probably going to carry most of the load pitching for us,” Shaddox said. “Kali Hodson, a sophomore, will probably come in and get some varsity experience. We look for her to get a lot more playing time next year. Taylor and Sarah, I feel, are some of the better pitchers in the area.”
One of the biggest challenges that Shaddox and his assistant, Lee Smith will face this year will be filling the shoes of their two lost starters in Meador and Turner.
After a 10-year breather, Tray Shaddox is ready to give this whole head coaching thing another try.
“I started the program with Renee Smith, coach Lee Smith’s wife, in 1995 and I coached for five years. I got out for about ten years because my kids were playing sports and I was missing getting to watch them so I got out of it,” McDonald County softball coach Shaddox said. “I told the administration at the time that if the opportunity ever arose for me to get back into it I would like that. Two years ago, Coach (Dinah) McCall came to me and asked if I would be her assistant and I jumped at that chance. I enjoyed working with Coach McCall, she was my assistant in my last year (1999) and we got along well together. I have really enjoyed being her assistant the last two years.”
Now, Shaddox takes the reins of a team that was a single win away from winning a district championship in 2010. And his goals for the 2011 season are lofty ones.
“Well we lost two good girls in Sam Meador at shortstop and Hailey Turner at catcher, but we have a lot of good young talent coming up and I feel like we have every chance to be as good as we were last year if not better,” Shaddox said. “I told the girls the first day of practice that my expectations are way up there and there’s no reason that we don’t have a chance to win our district tournament and go on and play at state. We feel like, if we can win our district, we’ve got a good chance to go all the way.”
If the Lady Mustangs can make good on that potential, it will most likely start with their pitching. McDonald County returns two experienced hurlers in 2011 in Sarah Rickman, a junior, and Taylor Pearcy, a senior.
“Sarah Rickman and Taylor Pearcy are both probably going to carry most of the load pitching for us,” Shaddox said. “Kali Hodson, a sophomore, will probably come in and get some varsity experience. We look for her to get a lot more playing time next year. Taylor and Sarah, I feel, are some of the better pitchers in the area.”
One of the biggest challenges that Shaddox and his assistant, Lee Smith will face this year will be filling the shoes of their two lost starters in Meador and Turner.
“Stormy Christerson played second base for us most of the time last year and she is going to move over
to shortstop and Kelsy Reynolds will step in at second base,” Shaddox explained. “I feel really good about our catching. We’ve got three really good prospects in Ashton Harmon, Macie Jones and Jenni Murphy. Jenni actually broke her ankle at camp so she is on the shelf at least for a little while, but we hope to get her back. She has an excellent bat, we will definitely get her some at bats somehow.”
Those new starters will plug into one of the area’s most experienced lineups.
“Autumn Hanks will play first for us and she has a great power swing. She really hits the ball hard. Sarah Rickman is another girl who hits the ball hard. Joni Hanke, who I think is the best defensive player in Southwest Missouri, is really hitting the ball well for us and she will be at third base,” Shaddox said. “Ashton Harmon is a great leadoff hitter for us in center field. She puts the ball in play and steals bases. Courtni Smith will play in left field for us and she has started to hit the ball really well in the last few days. We’ve focused on hitting a lot this week and I feel like we’ve gotten much better swinging the bat as a team.”
Coming into 2011, McDonald County has strength returning to almost every position on the field. So with as much talent and experience as they have, what could a coach possibly be concerned about?
“I felt coming into this season that we would have good pitching and we have a good defense,” Shaddox said. “But our hitting was inconsistent. If anything I would say that our offense has to be more consistent for us to make a run.”
Shaddox knows that the goals he placed in front of his team are not easily achieved. However, he is highly confident that his squad can answer the call if they believe in themselves.
“When we talked about goals at the first of the year, we talked about dreaming. When you do that, you give yourself a chance. I felt like to win a district championship is great and I feel we have a great chance to do that,” Shaddox said. “ But, making a run (at a state championship) is our ultimate goal, but we can’t look past our district because it’s so tough. Republic is tough, Neosho is tough, Webb City is always tough and I’m not sure what Joplin lost but their usually good and Carthage played us tough most of the time last season. There aren’t any weak teams in this district so we can’t look past it. But I feel like we have a great chance.”
The Lady Mustangs open their season Monday at Nixa. They will play their home opener on Tuesday when they host Aurora, At the end of next week, they will take part in the Joplin Tournament along with Neosho, Diamond, Seneca and eight other schools.
