By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The Munford Lady Cougars are in year 34 under the guidance of Head Coach Glenn Goulder.
With a roster featuring only five upperclassmen, the veteran Skipper is still trying to figure things out with assistant coaches Donnie Kelly, Terry McMillan and Raygan Huffman.
“We’ve still got a lot of questions on this team,” Goulder said. “We’re probably going to be a little bit better than we were last year. Last year we were three games under .500. I think we’ll probably be a little bit better off this year.”
Munford has one junior on the roster with Mackenzie Wright. She’s joined by seniors Brook Angel, Hope Norman, Kayla Reed and Riley Wade.
“We have four seniors and each one of them is a good leader,” Goulder noted. “We’ve got Hope Norman who plays leftfield for us. We’ve got Riley Wade who plays centerfield and pitches for us. We’ve got Brooke Angel who plays right field for us and we’ve got Kayla Reed who pitches and plays shortstop for us.
“They’ve really been really good so far,” he added. “They’re almost like another coach out there on the field. They’re always helping the younger kids. And the younger ones look up to them too.”
There are five newcomers to the program in freshmen Lexi Billings, Jackie Frederick, Mikalah Miller, Kyeligh Pullen and Carrington Rose. The bulk of the Lady Cougar lineup will feature 10 graders. And Pullen is healing from a fracture vertebrae.
“We’ve got 11 sophomores,” Goulder noted. “We’re real heavy with sophomores and freshmen. We’ve got those 11 sophomores along with five freshmen. Our junior and senior class is a total of five. Some of them will play a good bit this year.
Some of the sophomores in the mix will be Claire Geiger (shortstop/catcher/third base), Izzy Jones (second base), Lacy Hummelsine (first base), McKenzie Billings (first/third/designated player), Shelby Kendrick (third base) and Katelyn Daugherty (outfield).
“We’re going to rotate our outfield around – especially early in the season,” Goulder said. “We’ve got four kids. They’re going to take turns a little bit until we figure out what we’ve got. Or we might do it the entire season.
“The other sophomores on the team are Haley Mason a versatile infielder,” he continued. “Kayla Price who will play outfield We’ve got Lilly Pierce who will play outfield. We’ve got Brooke Norris who will play outfield.”
Goulder said all his younger players will have to grow up fast in order to help Munford get back over .500 and compete in District 13-3A against Liberty, Hardin County, Dyer County and Brighton.
“We’ve got one freshman who is going to play a lot, Lexi Billings,” he said. “Lexi is very versatile. She’s going to play shortstop, second base and pitch. She’ll hit high up in the lineup somewhere.”
With such a strong district, Goulder said all three phases of the game (pitching, offense and defense) will have to be a steady process of growth from March to May.
“We’re looking pretty good defensively,” he said. “Offensively, we’re a little bit behind right now. We’re still trying to make that decision as far as pitching. But we’ve got five we’re going to rely on pretty much.
“Kayla Reed pitched a lot for us last year,” Goulder concluded. “She’ll pitch a lot for us this year. Lexi Billings is going to be pitching a lot for us. McKenzie Billings will pitch a lot. And we’ve got Riley Wade who is going to pitch. Again we’re not sure about Makayla Stinnett the transfer from Brighton. She’s the question mark for us whether she’ll be eligible to play.”
