MORENCI — Sometimes success creates more challenges. The 2025 Morenci varsity softball team will face those challenges head on.
The ascension of the girls varsity basketball team to state competitors resulted in missed practice time for multisport student athletes.
State champion Gracie Snead has had to split time between her national powerlifting preparation and softball.
Zoey Martinez was an all-state designated hitter last year, but splits time as a dual sport athlete as she looks to qualify for the state meet in track and field in both the discus and shot put.
Under those circumstances head coach Kay Johnson knows it won’t be all about how the Bulldogs begin the season, but rather how they end it.
“Early on we’ll juggle the lineup and see who fits where,” Johnson said. “We’ll see how quick we can come around. Hopefully we can hit the ball and create some offense.”
They will look to their seniors for continued production including sisters Abby and Chelsea Pierce, along with the aforementioned Martinez and her bat.
“She only recorded one strikeout last year, which is pretty incredible,” Johnson said of her All-State DH.
Alyssa Gibbs is the other senior and was a member of the regional champion basketball team. She was sidelined last season after just six games when she took an opposing pitcher’s fastball off the hand.
This year she starts the season with a shoulder injury sustained in the quarterfinal basketball game.
“If she can’t go at catcher, she will try first base,” Johnson stated.
Fellow hardwood teammates Addyson Valentine and Evelyn Joughin are the only juniors. Valentine will look to provide stability as the starting pitcher while Joughin will anchor the infield at shortstop.
Six sophomores will help round out the lineup. Snead has a strong arm and will play third base. Rylee Frederick will stay at second base with Savanna Miles, Callie VanBrandt and Aly Curtis all potentially filling in at first base and outfield positions.
Jaelyn Thompson has shown continued improvement and will handle some pitching duties throughout the year.
Bailey Miller and Tavin Kruse are the only freshmen on the team. Johnson was quick to mention Kruse’s natural athleticism and speed and was interested to see what type of impact she could have.
Johnson looks for Whiteford to remain the class of the league as they welcome a freshman pitcher who throws upwards of 60 mph to go along with an already talented roster. She also sees Summerfield competing for a top spot as they return two starting pitchers from a successful campaign last year.
Erie Mason, Sand Creek, Britton Deerfield and Morenci will all compete to dethrone the reigning champs.
An in-season tournament in East Jackson on May 3 will provide an opportunity for the Bulldogs to see where they stand at the midway point.
As with every year “the schedule brings some wins, and also some losses,” Johnson stated, reflecting on the upcoming gauntlet of opponents. And with the early adversities they’ve already faced, playing catchup won’t be easy but it will be necessary.
“In some ways it’s back to basics,” she said. “We’ll be looking to win the last game of the season, not necessarily the first.”