WEST POINT — The numbers are there for Rob Barron.
Now the Starkville Academy fast-pitch softball coach can begin the building process that he hopes will help make the program competitive after a year without having a team.
Last school year, Starkville Academy opted not to have a competitive team, even though Barron said the Lady Volunteers had a “scrimmage team” that played games against the junior varsity squads at Winston Academy and Oak Hill Academy.
“It’s a good group,” Barron said of the 17-player roster. “We have come a long way in the last six weeks of practice, but we have a long way to go. It has been fun getting there.”
Mallory Barber is the only senior on a team that is packed with middle-school aged players. Barber’s sister, Mary Austin, was a former standout softball player at the school. Barron said she will help out as an assistant coach this season.
Starkville Academy lost to Oak Hill Academy 19-4 in three innings in its first game Saturday at the double-elimination Oak Hill Academy tournament. He said the team will play varsity and junior varsity games this season. Barron said the players “got after it last season” even though they didn’t have actual games to motivate them.
Early on, though, he wasn’t sure if the school would have a program in 2016. He said only seven girls signed up before the school decided to bring the sixth-grade girls up so everyone knew work was being done to keep the program alive. Barron said all but one of the girls who were on the “practice team” are back this season.
“If we had gone ahead and elected to let the sixth grade play from the beginning, we would have had enough to field a team, but, at the same time, it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea for the level of competition,” Barron said.
Barron said the improvement the players made from last season will help make the team more competitive. He likes the attitudes of all of the players and will measure the program’s progress in small steps as he continues to encourage others to get involved to assist in the building process.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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