HAMILTON — Alison Atkins and Taylor Hyland are wise beyond their years.
The Hamilton High School sophomores have played together long enough and in enough games to think pressure is just another word.
Whether it has been in slow pitch or fast pitch, Atkins and Hyland have been fixtures in the starting lineup for the Hamilton High softball program since they were in eighth and seventh grades.
Their experience might help explain why a group of sophomores has been able to play such a key role on a squad that features just two upperclassmen. After all, Atkins and Hyland don’t make a big deal about being leaders on a young team. They just take it as something that comes naturally because they have done it for so long.
“We’re used to having to know what to do,” Atkins said. “Me and (pitcher) Lexus (Jordan) have worked together for a long time. I have caught her since I was in seventh grade. We have good communication on the field.”
Hamilton will ride the pitching of Jordan, one of two seniors on the team, and the play of its sophomore class into game one of a best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A North State playoff series against Baldwyn at 6 p.m. Friday in Hamilton.
Hamilton is back in the playoffs after a one-year absence. First-year coach Bryan Loague, who served as an assistant coach to Lewis Earnest in the slow-pitch season, said all five sophomores who start have matured and have been a driving force behind the team’s development.
“Every day you see a little more maturity, and they kind of understand what they are doing more,” Loague said. “Early in the year, it was every day we would have to stop practice and have to explain something. But as the year went on, they have gotten to understand where they re supposed to be and what I want them to do at certain times.”
Atkins (catcher), Hyland (shortstop), Cheynne Logan (first base), Raimi Bryan (third base), and Jordyn Jackson (right field) have been integral parts of the starting lineup. They have combined with ninth-graders Addie Thompson (second base) and Hallie Dobbs (center field) and eighth-grader Hailee Jones (designated player) to form a young nucleus.
Loague said he changed some things from last season when Jason Cobb was coach, so he anticipated some kind of adjustment period. But he knew from coaching some of the players in slow-pitch season that the Lady Lions would have to rely on the sophomores if they were going to have success in a division with traditionally strong programs like East Webster and Eupora.
“I knew that group was pretty group coming in,” Loague said. “I expected a lot out of that bunch early. I knew I had a couple of pretty good seniors. That group (of sophomores) has had a lot of expectations throughout the year. A lot of them have been starting since they were eighth-graders.”
Hyland joked that the sophomores will have to “take over” next season considering the team might not have any seniors next season.
Atkins said the ability of the sophomores to assume a leadership role stems from the fact many of the players came up together in age-group ball. She said all of the sophomores play the role of leaders, or vice principals under Jordan and senior Aerial Rowell.
“As a team, we have been stronger and we are more together,” Atkins said. “We have come together more as a team and have gotten along better (on and off the field). We’re not going to say it is perfect because we are girls and we get moody, but when the going gets rough we’re going to pull together.”
There were plenty of ups and downs last season when a big part of the team was a year younger. This season, Atkins and Hyland said the team and Loague have matured together. They said Loague’s personality and philosophy have meshed well with the players’ personalities and produced a turnaround they are proud of.
“There have kind of been some doubts, but we have proven ourselves this year,” Atkins said. “I am proud to be able to say we only have two seniors and that we don’t have a bunch of players (who have experience), but we can do it. We believe in each other. As long as we believe and know we can do it, we can go to state.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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