WEST POINT — Mitch Bohon is fired up.
Now in his third year as Oak Hill Academy’s fast-pitch softball coach, Bohon admits he has finally figured things out. It has taken time, but Bohon, a former standout baseball player in high school and in college, has a better understanding of the nuances that separate softball and baseball.
Bohon’s players are fired up, too.
This season, there are 31 of them between the junior varsity and varsity squads, which is a far cry from when Bohon took over the program. In that first season, the Raiders won five games. They won 12 games last season and missed an opportunity to go to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AA State tournament as a result of a 3-2 walk-off loss to Marshall Academy.
Bohon and the Raiders intend to take the next step in 2017.
“For the first time since I have been here, we have the experience,” said Bohon, who also is the school’s baseball coach. “They have the instincts now. They are ready to compete for the big thing. I am excited to see them take the field for the first time because I think it is going to be a ballclub that shocks a lot of people in the state of Mississippi.”
Oak Hill Academy will play host to Heritage Academy on Friday. The junior varsity game will start at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity game.
On Saturday, Oak Hill Academy will serve as host for a tournament that will be played at the school and at West Point High School. The tournament will include a West Point High travel team, Starkville Academy, Newton Academy, Hebron Christian, and Kemper Academy. Games at both sites start at 8 a.m.
Bohon, a standout baseball player at Oak Hill Academy, East Mississippi Community College, and William Carey, doesn’t shy away from the fact that it is “state tournament or bust” this season. He feels the pitching combination of sophomore Anna Grace Reed, who also plays catcher, and junior Kenzie Jukes will provide crucial depth. A year ago, Bohon said senior Peyton Tefteller tired down the stretch as the team’s only varsity pitcher.
Bohon feels the Raiders have improved defensively and have a strong mix of power hitting and small ball in a lineup he believes will produce plenty of runs, even after losing standout Tanner Grubbs to graduation.
“You can see the excitement in their eyes because they realize this is their year to make something happen,” Bohon said.
Senior Sunni Milican acknowledged the Raiders still have “kinks” to work out before those games, but she said the team is focused on taking the next step after it surprised people in 2016.
“Where we are no is so much farther than I thought we would have gotten when I started playing three years ago,” Milican said.
Milican said experience has helped the Raiders climb the ladder to respectability. She said the team still makes mistakes, but she said it knows what to do in situations and is primed to have an even bigger season. Milican said she is anxious to see if the players can pick each other up and stay energized. She said the team has collapsed in previous seasons when things have gone wrong.
Senior Anna Kathryn Childress also believes the team has taken significant strides in the last two seasons. She said no one has backed away from the challenge Bohon set of making the state tournament because everyone believes the team is ready to do it.
“We all want to prove everybody wrong,” Childress said. “From the past years, we have had a lot more people come to our games. They are like, ‘Hey, they can actually play now. They are giving effort. They are here to win.’ ”
Childress said the team remembers the feeling of being so close a year ago and that it will use that disappointment as motivation. She said it is remarkable to think back two seasons ago to see how far the Raiders have come.
“Back then, you didn’t think you’re as bad as you really were,” Childress said. “I would be like, ‘Why are people saying this because we are really not that bad.’ Now that we are a lot better, I am like, ‘Oh gosh, I see what people were watching and what they were experiencing.’ We want to make our people watch a legit softball game and have fun and get into it like us.”
Bohon hopes that is the case. With depth in the circle and a solid hitting attack, Bohon is curious to see how the team will respond when it faces adversity. He has confidence the Raiders will handle those challenge with enthusiasm and confidence.
“If we give ourselves a shot to get to (the state tournament), we might as well win it when we get there,” Bohon said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino in Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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