Ashland girls rely on youth
Sports Editor
ASHLAND — A season of rebuilding appears to be in store for the Ashland softball team.
Following the loss of seven players, including four starters, from last year’s team that finished 10-7, veteran coach Terry Hunter will look to new faces to lead the Hornets this year. Entering his 13th season as head coach for the Hornets, and 20th overall with the Ashland program, Hunter said he was optimistic for the upcoming season.
“Although we will be young in terms of experience, I feel by the end of the season we will be in the mix of things,” Hunter said. “I have five very good starters returning that can field and hit.”
This year’s Hornet squad features seniors Taylor Baker (first base), Macey Pelkey (third base) and Jessica Jimmo (second base); juniors Whitney Donovan (pitcher), Christina Santiago (right field), Maria Cook (right field); sophomores Anna Paradis (left field), Brooke Labelle (catcher), Chelsea Hammond (right field), Melissa Ellis (third base); and freshmen Kayla Cote (shortstop) and Shea Craig (second base).
Baker, Jimmo, Donovan, Cook, Paradis, Labelle and Hammond are all returning players for the Hornets.
Among the losses to graduation last year was Senior Class D East Player of the Year Suzanne Poulin.
“I am very impressed with my two freshmen especially on defense, both of which will be starting,” Hunter said. “We lost our pitcher, shortstop, third baseman and center fielder, which are not easy positions to fill, but I believe with working hard on fundamentals we can make the transition.”
Like most County squads, Ashland has been able to be outside for practice for much of the preseason and coach Hunter has been impressed with what he has seen thus far.
“We were able to use the field Monday,” he said. “This is the earliest ever. It is great to get out of the gym and be able to enjoy the fresh air hit ground balls on real dirt, throw the correct distance and hit fly balls. It can only help. The gym gets old and ours is very small making it hard to even throw the ball.”
Paradis led the team in hitting last year with a .517 batting average and will likely be the team’s go-to hitter.
“We do have some power with Whitney, Macey, Anna and Melissa and very good doubles and singles hitters in Brooke, Taylor, Maria, Jessica, Chelsea,” the coach said. “The others I have yet to see enough of to categorize.”
The coach said most positions were still up for grabs as he needed to see more from the players during the preseason before making any decisions. The Hornets go to Madison on April 19 for games with the Bulldogs and Nokomis.
“We work a lot on fundamentals and just knowing the game,” Hunter said. “We have some players that have not played a lot so I take nothing for granted.
Ashland was fifth in Eastern Class D a year ago, and went on to beat No. 4 Bangor Christian in the playoffs before falling to top-ranked Southern Aroostook.
“This is a great bunch of girls that are working very hard at improving themselves and I believe they will be successful,” he said. “We just have one goal and that’s making it to the playoffs. Then anything can happen. Last year, no one gave us a chance against Bangor Christian in the playoffs and we beat them 9-2 and almost upset the No. 1 team. I have great confidence in this team.”
One of the biggest changes this year is moving the pitching circle back from 40 feet to 43 feet. That change could have a dramatic affect on how teams approach the game, Hunter said.
“It will be interesting to see how this effects teams as far as offense and run production and lengths of games,” Hunter said. Ashland opens its season Friday, April 23 at Central Aroostook at 4 p.m.
