Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
The Goddard softball team is a work in progress, and will be relying heavily on Maddie Greene (center, back) both on the mound and at the plate.
(CCSR photo by Karen Boehler)
Maddie Greene is going to have to carry a lot of weight on her shoulders as the Goddard softball team’s No. 1 pitcher and leading hitter.
“She’s going to be our rock,” said coach David Lawrence. “She’s our horse, and we’re going to turn to her every time we play and she knows it. There’s going to be a lot of weight that falls on her shoulders, but she’s working hard and I thought she had a pretty good outing in the scrimmage.”
While the Rockets will have two backup pitchers, the senior is expected to be one of those softball pitchers who goes every inning.
Add to that the fact she led the district in hitting last year — with a more than .500 average — and Greene will be key to the inexperienced Goddard squad.
The Rockets graduated nine seniors — six starters — from last year’s team, so expect for Greene and two other returning players, everyone else will be getting their varsity experience this season.
“The biggest thing is going to be getting those kids some experience and seeing how the season goes,” Lawrence said. “Right now we’ve got good attitudes about what we’re doing and they’re working hard and that’s half the battle.”
While the lineup and batting order are still somewhat in flux, Lawrence has some positions set.
Mara Thorp, a sophomore third baseman, is a “real strong kid,” the coach said. “Plays pretty good defense. Swings the bat pretty well, so we’re looking for some big things from her.”
Junior Mandie Varela, who Lawrence is “looking for some big things from,” and senior Amanda will fill two of the outfield slots.
Sophomore Chastity Urban, who started as a freshman last year and “who did a real good job for us,” should start at short.
Greene’s long-time catcher, junior Victoria Blackburn, will start behind the plate, but Lawrence said she’s still got some work to do.
“She’s just got to get better,” he said. “She’s got some skill and she’s caught Maddie for three years now, so we’ve kind of got her working back there as our No. 1.”
Backing her up will be sophomore K’leigh Jordan, who caught for the junior varsity last year and in last weekend’s scrimmage.”
“She’s got some good talent. She hits the ball well,” Lawrence said. “We’re still working second base and first base, that’s kind of up in the air, but we’ll see what happens.”
What needs to happen, he said, is for the fielders to do their best behind Greene.
“We’ve got to play good defense behind her,” he said. “Teams are going to hit her; they hit any pitcher after a while. And as dominant as she can be, she’s going to get hit on occasion, and we’ve got to play good defense. If we do that, we have a chance to win.
“It’s just going to be a work in progress for a while until we kind of really settle down and see what we want and see who’s going to fit in at the right spots and hopefully we’ll just compete and work hard every day.”
They’ll get a chance to see just what they can do when the season opens Friday at the Clovis Tournament.
During a scrimmage Feb. 27, they tied Portales and lost to Hobbs by one.
“It wasn’t bad, and he’s got a pretty good squad over there at Hobbs,” Lawrence said. “So we were pleasantly surprised. I think we did some good things and we did some things we still need to work on, but we’ve just got to keep working hard at practice and just getting better every day.”
But the opposition gets even harder Friday. They’ll face Lovington and Clovis in the opening rounds of the Clovis Invitational before getting seeded for Saturday’s final rounds.
They’ll travel to Rio Rancho for a big tournament in the city of vision, and drew Silver as their opening opposition at the Artesia Tournament.
“The tournaments I think are going to help us,” Lawrence said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge. That’ll give us a good idea where we’re going to be when it’s all said and done.”
District, of course, is expected to be tough as usual, with Lawrence naming the Coyotes as the front runner.
“I think, just what Roswell High and Artesia lost, I would give Roswell the nod as the team to beat. They didn’t lose much,” he said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve just got to get after some people and give ourselves a chance to win and see what happens with us.”
And noting that the Rockets and are a good group who like each other, he won’t rule anything out.
“I think these girls will keep focused and we’re going to keep them focused and see if we can’t just battle people and compete and give ourselves a chance to win. And if we do that, then we’ll be successful.”
For more sports news, go to Chaves County Sports Report