Sports - March 2003

Girls can swing and play the field

TERRANCE THOMAS, LTN Staff Writer

March 3, 2003 - The softball teams in the county should be some of the best in the region.

East Lincoln may be one of the best in the state.

The Lady Mustangs won the  Big South 3A Conference regular season and conference last year and will return with all of its starters.

They opened up with a 7-0 win against Lake Norman.

“Right now, we’re doing pretty good,” said East coach Scott Spohler. “But we’re not quite in game shape.”

Once that happens, look out.

On the mound, Autumn Painter, Courtney Ewing and Corina Vinzant will make up the pitching rotation. Spohler likes to put in a different pitcher every three innings just to throw the batters off.

The top hitters for the Lady Mustangs are Nicole Shoemaker, Amanda Goodson, Stephanie Edwards and Jessica Towery.

In the field, Shoemaker is behind the plate, Vinzant and Ewing are at first, Goodson’s at second, Towery mans shortstop, Painter and sophomore Nakita Moore will get the nod at third.

The outfield is set with Edwards, Kristen Taffi, Stephanie Horne, Broke Michael and Leslie Marlowe.

The team lost early in the playoffs at Enka in extra innings last season.

Spohler says he has that article about the game on his wall. Every time he sees it, he said it gives him motivation.

That’s one of the things he said along with hard work, and determination that will get East deeper in the playoffs this season.

Lincolnton was knocked out early in the playoffs too last year.

This year Ann Anderson’s squad should contend for the Midwest 2A Conference crown.

But the younger players will need to step up first.

“We’re very young,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of 10th graders and freshmen.”

Anderson will miss star pitcher deluxe Lynsey Cooper but she said Santana Edwards can do the job. Meredith Gilleland will back her up.

Edwards will rely on the top hitters, Ashlea Farley, Andrea Stroup Lindsey Sain and Keisha Duncan, for run support.

Stroup is at catcher after switching from third. Farley is at first, Shantae Shank is at second, at short is Sain. Third base could be either Charlotte Clark or Jordan Rayfield.

Brandy Gates, Duncan and Reylinda Trevino are the starters in the outfield.

With this lineup, Anderson said this team take the league title.

“I’m very confident we can win the conference,” she said. “We just got to get some hitting.”

The LHS program now has a junior varsity team.

LHS may be young but West Lincoln is so young that eight of the team’s 13 players are sophomores (three) or freshmen (five).

“We’re young but we’ve got some pretty good players,” Coach Allen Hoyle said. “We’ve got to go through some growing pains.”

He said at least three freshmen will start. They will play a major role for the Lady Rebels this season.

Ninth-graders Sheana Black and Katie Davis along with sophomore Sarah Peeler are the pitchers. The top hitters are Black, Katie Thornburg and Charlye Godfrey.

In the field, senior Lauren Mosteller is the backstopper, Paula Jarrett and Davis are at first, Thornburg’s at second, frosh Candi Taylor is at short while Godfrey and Jeannie Bollinger are the third sackers.

The Lady Rebels in the outfield are Sarah Peeler, freshman Anna Knight, Amista Cooper, Lacey Parker and Emily Moore.

For this young group to make the playoffs, Hoyle said there needs to be pop in the bats and glue in the gloves.

“We can make the playoffs if our defense and hitting can stay parallel to our pitching,” He said. “I feel good about the pitching.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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