By DAVE BELCHER
The Progress
The Moapa Valley High School softball team turned out in force to tryouts and practices last week to prepare for a new season.
Last year the team finished the season with a 12-10 record overall and a 5-5 league record. They finished third in the Mountain Division.
This year, the team is led by a new head coach, Stacie Stilson. Stilson brings with her Nancy Holm as her varsity assistant. Brandi Fairchild will serve as the head JV coach with Kyle Ozaki as her assistant. Ben Cornwall, John Stastny and Jeff Longman will all help as assistant coaches as well.
Returning to play on the Pirate varsity team this year is Deja Bradshaw, Araceli Castillo, Eline Jensen, Kyndal Longman, Myka Martinsen, Brooklyn Reynolds, Raegan Stankosky and Andie Wood.
“We have so much talent this year” said Stilson.
“To accomplish our goals this year we need to focus on getting the second half of the line up to be as strong as the first half,” she added. “We have the pitching, we need to elevate our hitting to win crucial games.”
Stilson added that she is working on unifying the efforts of the team. “We must come together as one team, uniting our talents to work towards a common goal,” she said. “We will trust, praise, support and encourage each other. We will always keep the interest and goals of the team our priority.”
One of the first challenges for the Pirate team this season will be a major change of venue. With the MVHS home field currently under construction, a project that is expected to extend far beyond the softball season, the Pirates have relocated to the Moapa park baseball diamond. This means the team must arrange transportation up to Moapa each day for both practice and games. And so will the fans.
But the inconvenience is likely to pay off. The Pirates are expected to be in the hunt for a state playoff berth.
The team’s first game will be on the road on Monday, March 4 at Sunrise Mountain.
The first home game will be against SLAM on Wednesday, March 6 beginning at 3:30 pm.
The team then travels to Pahrump on Friday, March 8.
