MORGANTOWN — UHS head softball coach Mindy Parks has a great motivational tool for the 2024 version of the Hawks —– the bench.
“The girls are going to get mad at me, but we have a bench this year,” Parks said with a laugh. “That is allowing me to have some leverage. I haven’t had that as a coach. This can be a hard job if you don’t have a bench. I finally have a bench and if somebody isn’t working hard, we have some good players who can step up.”
Parks, in her 11th season, has 18 players on the varsity roster and just two of them are seniors. First baseman Ally Jansen and senior outfielder/infielder Ashlyn Weaver are going to provide the leadership for a team full of sophomores and freshmen.
“Having a bench is great,” Jansen, who moved from catcher to first base last season, said. “We have so much depth. It really pushes us.”
Jansen is a prime example of being pushed as she moved from behind the plate last season thanks to the arrival of Olivia Masoner last year.
“I caught my entire life,” Jansen said. “By the time I entered high school, I was done with it, but I had to. Olivia came up and she’s a stud of a catcher. The adjustment to first base was great for the team, great for me and great for my knees.”
Masoner hit .485 last season and is part of a sophomore class that makes the Hawks a legit contender for a deep state tournament run.
Also back for UHS is pitcher Maddie Campbell. She finished 15-3 last year in the circle with 140 strikeouts. Campbell also hit for a .505 average on her way to first-team Class AAA all-state honors.
“Maddie is such a great all-around player,” Parks said. “I’m really not sure where to put her when she isn’t pitching. She can play anywhere.”
Sophomore Sophia Lehosit is a solid No. 2 pitcher as she went 8-4 and also hit .424 at the plate. It will likely be Lehosit at shortstop when she isn’t pitching this year and she will just switch places with Campbell.
“Sophia has such great softball intelligence,” Parks said. “She really knows the game.”
The lone junior, Kelsey Park, will play second base this season while Weaver is expected to move from the outfield to third base. However, Parks did say the lineup is fluid right now with the 11 freshmen on the team all vying for playing time.
The outfield will see near-wholesale changes as freshman Lexi Elza will play left, sophomore Bree Royce will be in center and Morgantown High transfer Adalyn Brown will play right.
Parks said she made good use of the 17 flex days the team was afforded this off-season. In fact, the Hawks won a bracket during a winter tournament held at Mylan Park.
“I try to be positive about every year,” Parks said. “I am super-confident about this year. We have been working hard at practices and the kids have been willing to work hard. When I used to try to use flex days, we didn’t have anyone show up. This year, kids showed up and it was — wow!”
Parks noted that while Campbell and Lehosit will see the majority of the time in the circle, freshmen Carley Voithofer and Tegan Haney will also pitch some innings. Three other freshmen are also pushing for time as Joslyn Phillips is a solid backup catcher, Whitney Cox has surprised off the UHS girls’ basketball team as an infielder and Maddie Walls is a utility player who will be seeing time as a baserunner.
University has won three-straight sectional titles but has also lost to John Marshall in the regional round the last three years.
“I think it comes down to chemistry with this team,” Jansen said about getting past the regional round. “We are coming together and if we continue molding together, we can go as far as we want to.”
This season’s schedule features contests against Wheeling Park, John Marshall, rival Morgantown and a trip to Myrtle Beach.
The Hawks open the season today when they host Buckhannon-Upshur at 5 p.m. on Lynch Field at Mylan Park.
By ERIC HERTER
TWEET @DomPostSports
