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Softball: Lewisville looking to surprise in 5-5A, Out to snap five-year playoff drought
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
After showing improvement and knocking on the door of the playoffs each of the past two seasons, Lewisville head coach Lori Alexander believes 2013 may be the year the squad has the makeup to get over the hump and snap what is now a five-year postseason drought.
The Lady Farmers return six starters and have improved depth in the circle, helping the squad to a 14-5 start entering Friday’s contest against Kennedale (results not available as of press time). Additionally, each of Lewisville’s five losses have been by just one run.
“We’re playing pretty well and the games we have lost, we are playing well enough to win,” Alexander said. “We’ve just had a little mistake here or there that has cost us. We have to try and eliminate that because our district is very tough and we need to pull out those close games.”
“I really think anyone can win on any day,” Alexander said. “It’s going to come down to who plays the best on that day. We’ve gotten a chance to see all of them in some way except Flower Mound. But we already have a good idea of what they do.”
Teams scouting Lewisville, however, will notice a new face in the circle as Maribeth Gorsuch has been leading the Lady Farmers staff, racking up 126 strikeouts thus far.
“She can throw anything,” Alexander said. “She has good velocity, but also has a good rise and a good curve. I think she is going to carry most of the weight, but we have other capable pitchers too.”
The rest of the staff includes Chloe Campise and Miranda Worthington.
“They actually give us another dimension and might even be more effective because they will be such a different look from Maribeth,” Alexander said. “I think they’ll be more effective in doses, it’s just a matter of me not being scared to use them even if Maribeth is doing well.”
Around the horn in the field are Rebecca Scott at first base, Jessica Stahl at second, Selena Garcia at shortstop, Gaby Vazquez at third, Worthington in left field, Kacie Saucedo in center and Jessica Nelson in right. Tami Goodman will also contribute in the outfield, with Morgan Mitchell seeing time at first, Summer Quiroga chipping in at second and Megan Haggard in the rotation at third.
“We have three juniors in the outfield,” Alexander said. “They can all cover some ground and have good arms. And Selena has been playing very well at short. But we’re still looking for improvements on defense overall. We’ve had some fluky things that have cost us a couple of times and every once in a while we have an inning or two where we throw or boot the ball around.”
At the plate, the Lady Farmers have been led by Worthington, who is hitting better than .400 out of the cleanup spot.
“Miranda has been looking pretty good at the plate,” Alexander said.
Alexander has also been pleased with what she has seen in the past two games with Garcia and Vazquez hitting first and second, respectively.
In addition to the circle, Gorsuch has been excelling at the plate, hitting better than .400 out of the 3-hole.
“She’s a player we’ve really been lacking and we’re hoping she is kind of the finishing touch on our lineup,” Alexander said. “We have a balanced lineup this year and should be capable of scoring in any inning no matter who is batting.”
With balance and depth in all aspects, Lewisville expects to compete for a playoff spot this year.
“We’re definitely thinking playoffs and if we don’t make it, something has gone wrong,” Alexander said.
Lewisville will have a good idea of where it stands right off the bat, opening district competition at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Flower Mound before going on the road Friday at Marcus.
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