Lady Indians look to continue success

The Comanche softball team came within a win of making its third straight trip to the state tournament last year. Now, under second-year head coach Jennifer White, the Lady Indians will be relying on youth to get them back to the postseason.

Six freshmen make up nearly half of the 13-player roster, which means at least two of them will be in the starting line-up at any given time for the Lady Indians.

Still, White does not find herself in a tight spot like last year where she was hired in late summer and barely got to know her team before the season started.

“I feel better about it like I’m not in survival mode just trying to to get through,” White said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these girls and spending more time with them through basketball season and getting to know some of them better throughout the spring and some of the summer. I’ve enjoyed that way more than just coming in on the fly.”

With such a young team, the coach will be looking for her squad to get better every time they step out on the field.

“We’ve had some really great practices, and we are young, so we’ve had to go over some things we probably wouldn’t have to go over if we had more veterans on the field,” White said. “It’s been good though. I really have enjoyed these young ones a lot. I think they will bring a lot to our team.”

While it may be a youthful team, it is not without leadership. Seniors Jentry Whaley, Caity Ramsey and Lexi Feldman bring experience to the squad along with juniors Jaylee Roebuck and Cloey Kinkade, who both were starters as sophomores with Roebuck getting All-District honors.

“I really don’t think you can ask for a better group of seniors,” Whaley said. “Jentry and Caity definitely have a lot of experience, so that will definitely help us. They’re really good team leaders. Lexi has been out with injuries, but she’s been to everything and she’s been working her tail off. I really like how this group all gets along and like hanging out and I think it is going to help us this season.”

The Lady Indians lost their two top pitchers to graduation last year and right now there is not a dominant successor, but there are several players capable of toeing the rubber.

“We’re going to utilize all of (the players) in some form or fashion,” White said. “We’re going to have to get creative with our pitching and we’re going to have to create runs. We’re going to have to do all of those things, so I’m looking to use every one of them.”

That will not be limited to pitching. The coach expects to do a lot of shifting around at every position from game to game.

“It will depend a lot on who is pitching,” White said. “We’ll have some outfielders who will come in to play infield and some infielders who will play outfield. If we are going to win games, we will have to do it together. It will be rewarded at the end if they learn to work together and talk and communicate. I’m definitely planning on using everyone.”

She is also hoping that her young squad can generate some offense.

“We’re trying to get everyone in the line-up where they are able to hit, be smart and run the bases,” White said. “I definitely think we will be okay. I think we just need to get in and start playing.”

The Lady Indians recently completed their summer league in Marlow which allowed them to get some valuable experience.

“We definitely had our ups and downs, but I think we saw progress in every form or fashion every game,” White said. “We had one week where we looked really, really bad and then came back and looked totally different, but it was after we had gotten some good work done once practice started.”

There might be some growing pains along the way, but overall, the coach likes the look of her team and thinks there will be every opportunity to have another successful season.

“I think we will definitely have the ability to do that,” White said. “Again, I think we are going to have to be creative and people are going to have to work hard, take responsibility for what they are responsible for, grow as team and work together. I think if we do those things, we can have a significant and a very successful season. It’s just going to be interesting to see how it comes out.”

The team will be hosting an alumni game and community celebration on Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. at the Field of Dreams.