As the 2023 high school softball season nears, we take a look into the softball team. Last year during the 2022 season the Lady Mustangs had a very good record. Their record was 34-3. Their 3 losses to South Warren, Henderson County, and Lexington catholic. The Lady Mustangs came very close to winning state last year but were beat by Lexington catholic as one of their 3 season losses. The team last season was ranked number 4 in the state of Kentucky. 

Some of the seniors feel very strongly about this season and the outcomes the team will have. According to Annie White a 17 year old senior on the softball team,“ I think we will do well this season, but we do not have as strong of a lineup as we did last season. I think we will definitely make it to state.” According to an 18 year old senior, Ally Hutchins, she believes “ I think we have a chance at winning state as long as we don’t put as much pressure on ourselves and gel as a team. Last year I felt like we fell short because all year we focused on the big end goal rather than the little steps to get there, but this year i love the work ethic and amount of work we have already put in already. So I think we have a shot at winning State.” 

Head coach Tony Hayden has some strong opinions on this year’s season as well. Tony, having lots of experience coaching since 2001, starting as assistant coach at Reidland high school, is very knowledgeable about the game. Tony has some great wins and some great losses. He says his biggest challenge, and/or disappointment is at the beginning of high school softball career. “ Our biggest disappointment was not winning the state tournament in 2014, 2016, 2021, and 2022. Tony feels this season will be better, “ We lost 2 seniors that were responsible for 21v home runs and a ton of RBI’s,usually that is hard to replace at most schools, but we have underclassmen that are going to get a shot at replacing those statistics. Open practice has looked good with the players that are showing up, stronger would be an impossible statement, but we expect to be as good. We’ve got a tough early season schedule, we’ll see how the cards get laid out, pitching, hitting, and defensively, early on! It’s a good mix of younger and older talent, we as coaches like what we are seeing.”

Everyone is eager for what the Lady mustangs will bring this season, for they fell a little short last season. The girls and the coaches are excited for the season and cannot wait to see what it will bring. Everyone is expecting the girls to come out stronger than ever, wanting redemption.