It’s not that Chris Starkey doesn’t like living in the past – the Fox softball head coach still talks quite fondly of the fall of 2015, when the Warriors compiled a 25-7 record and orchestrated a third-place finish at the Class 4 state tournament.
But Starkey quickly snapped back to reality last season when, having watched virtually all of the offense from that 2016 team graduate, Fox managed just eight wins against 15 losses. And, while he doesn’t anticipate this fall to serve as any kind of a return to the greatness of two years ago, Starkey isn’t the least bit apprehensive heading into this campaign.
“The biggest thing with last year is we didn’t have a lot of varsity experience coming back,” Starkey said. “Whereas, this year, we’re basically returning six starters. So they now know how different the game is at this level. It’s like I’ve told the girls, ‘Wins and losses are going to happen, and the bottom line is I don’t care if we struggle in the regular season. What matters, as it does every season for me, is how we do at district time.’ ”
Starkey said the Warriors should have a good mix of players contributing on offense.
“Obviously we didn’t win many games (eight) last season, but I thought our offense as a group was still good,” he said. “We just didn’t close out games like we should have. There were instances where we had to put the emphasis on our defense and pitching to keep us in games, but we played well enough to win more.”
Starkey says returners Grace George (third base), Lauren Duff (pitcher), Madison Malone (pitcher-second base), Mackenzie Fitts (outfield), Amie Schubert (shortstop-pitcher) and outfielder Grace Parker will be counted on to shoulder the offensive load.
That group will be joined by outfielders Kylie Austin, Ariel Leadbetter, Gabby Tucker and Abby Lenzner, infielders Lauren Graf and Madelyn Profeta, along with catcher Dani Exler.
“All of them bring a different asset to the lineup,” Starkey said. “That means we don’t have to sit back and wait for the three-run homer. So we might be able to manufacture runs better than we did last year. As a (coaching) staff, we’ve been pushing the girls to make sure they’re ready on any given pitch or any given play. That’s why we’ve been giving them as many repetitions as possible.”
Starkey isn’t ready to anoint his offense as similar to the 2015 squad that included Ashley Ellis, Claudia Gallo, Alaina Brand and Karli Allen. That group amassed 44 home runs, including 16 off Ellis’ bat.
But the Fox coach says it may take the talented arms of Duff, Schubert and Malone to make sure this team doesn’t repeat last season’s performance.
“They do complement each other,” Starkey said of his pitching trio. “Kind of like the same way we talk hittingwise. All three of them bring things to the table, and all threw well in the (pre-season) jamboree. Plus, they all have that experience from last year.”
Starkey was quick to temper any expectations as the Warriors start the season at the Rockwood Summit Tournament on Friday.
“If you go back to that 2015 group, people might forget that we had 16 and 18 wins the two years before,” he said. “With high school softball, you get a different group in every year and you just look to improve on it.”