The spring softball season is upon us. The Fair Grove Softball team has been preparing hard for a new season and are ready for the pay off. Over the winter they attended off season workouts and participated in open gyms. The girls have been coming in early and staying late, focusing on the fundamentals, and getting prepared for four game weeks. Ella Hymes (11) said, “The team has been doing a lot of workouts and more endurance/speed training. We have a lot of new girls and they are working just as hard as the older girls.”

The team has set some major goals for this season including: winning tournaments, competing in the district championship game, and working hard all the way to the end. They are also working on not overlooking other conference teams. Jordan Coddington (12) said, “I am looking forward to playing some great teams like Strafford and Mt. Vernon in this upcoming season.”

This year the team will be relying on all of their players to work hard. Head Coach, Tara Whetzell, explained, “Our key returning players are our seniors, Jordan Coddington, Taylor Bell, and Shyan Proctor.  Our key underclassman who worked their tails off last season are Ryah Icenhower, Ella Hymes, Tristin Cross, and Leah Weaver. Anna Johnston and Halli Phifer are our young guns who didn’t see much of the field last year, but are back to help us with the hard work they have put in this off season and to show us what they have learned thus far.”

In this upcoming season not only are the girls excited but so are the coaches. Whetzell added, “Overall, I believe the team is ready to continue what we started last year; hard work, good attitudes, accountability, respectable character, and making more memories.  We look forward to good competition, failures, successes, and team bonding. We as coaches are looking forward to see who will step up this year and earn a spot in the starting lineup and who will become a better teammate and leader for us.”