A mother, a yeller, and a jester
When you’re looking for your seniors to play complementary roles, it’s always nice for those players to have a variety of strengths that can help the team.
Gary Harris has watched seniors Kaitlyn Oswalt, Brooklyn Waldrep, and Macy Walters for the past three years, so he knows how each player has matured as a player for the Heritage Academy fast-pitch softball team. This season, he hopes those players will help set the tone for a program that has advanced to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA State tournament two of the past three years.
Oswalt, Waldrep, and Walters are eager to take on that role. They feel confident they will be able to do that based on the different strengths they have and how those intangibles work well with those of their classmates.
“I have three outstanding seniors who just push this team and are unselfish,” Harris said. “They’re coaches on the field. They know what I want now. They have been a part of this for three years, going on four years, so they know how we have to practice. There are going to be bumps and valleys as we go throughout the season, so it is so much easier and nicer when you have experienced girls who can help you get through that.”
For the record, Oswalt called herself “a yeller” after Walters said Oswalt is the one who stays on teammates to motivate them. Oswalt said Walters helps keep everyone loose by making them laugh. She and Walters agreed Waldrep is the “mother” of the team who works well with the younger players and helps keep their spirits up.
“I think we are good on leadership,” Oswalt said. “We also have the good juniors who back us up and help hold the team up. … Our leadership will be a good role this year, since Macy and I had to do it last year. We learned from it and have gotten better with it.”
Harris hopes those qualities provide a starting point for a team with 18 players, which he said is the most he has had in his time at the school. The depth excites Harris because the Patriots will be able to overcome injuries and players will be able to push starters for playing time.
Last season, Heritage Academy rallied from a 15-0 loss to Madison-Ridgeland Academy in the MAIS Class AAA North State tournament. The Patriots (16-18 last season) lost their two games in the Class AAA tournament, but Harris believes the experience was a great step to help push the program forward. This season, he hopes Oswalt, Waldrep, and Walters will help lead the way to an even better finish.
“I am really excited for the season because for the first time we are at a level I feel very comfortable with going into the season,” Harris said. “Last year was one of those years we didn’t know how good we were going to be. We were missing a starter (Waldrep, who missed the season with an illness) and we found a way to get through the North State and get to State for the second time in three years.”
Harris expects Waldrep to play second base, while Walters, who took over at catcher last season, will remain at that position to work with Oswalt, a right-hander, who likely will log most of the innings in the circle.
Eighth-grader Sydney Adair (left field), junior Tyler Rhett (third base), freshman Macy Nordquist (shortstop), sophomore Haley Martin (right field), junior McKenzie Bumgarner (first base), and seventh-grader Madison Tipton (center field) could be in the starting lineup for the season opener against Hebron Christian at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, in Columbus. Harris said sophomore Kaitlyn Hocutt (outfield) and junior Blair Madison (designated hitter) also will compete for starting roles.
Harris said the seniors complement each other, which helps cover every angle with young players. He said Oswalt used the offseason to develop a couple of pitches she didn’t have last season. He said Walters could be the team’s best infielder or outfielder, but she did such a great job catching that she became an All-District catcher.
Harris expects Waldrep to set the tone at the top of the lineup. He hopes the friendship the three seniors share will help motivate them to help the team realize its potential.
“I talk a lot about wanting to win something for them, and it’s not phony,” said Harris, whose team started two-a-day practices last week. “The girls around here know that, and they know how much this senior class means to me.”
But Harris said the Patriots won’t allow their desire to win a title to overshadow having fun and growing as a team. He said he hopes the team can stay loose and have fun so it can play its best ball to keep its season alive deep into October. With senior leaders like Oswalt, Waldrep, and Walters, Harris feels Heritage Academy is positioned for a great season.
“We don’t want to be so focused on (playing for championships) that we miss all of the good that can happen during the year, and enjoy each win and enjoy each day,” Harris said. “I think the fact that now they are seniors I am starting to put a different emphasis on them so they can focus on enjoying the moment and enjoying their senior year.”
Waldrep said the team is working hard and that it has a different, relaxed feel because it is more experienced. Oswalt said the growth of the younger players has helped the older players trust that everyone can do their part to help the team accomplish its goals.
“Brooklyn, Kaitlyn, and I have been on this team with these same girls for three years, so we know what makes them happy and what gets them down,” Walters said. “If we just continue to show them we are the same people we were three years ago, we still have your back, we are still out here to have fun, I think they will be fine.
“We can joke on the field after we make a good play, but we have to come down to it when they going gets tough.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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