The Manchester Academy Lady Mavericks wrapped up their softball season after an appearance at the MAIS AA North State Tournament.
Head Coach Robert Black said the team ended their regular season with 10 wins and 10 losses, and had a district record of 5 - 3. Black said the team did not end the season playing their best.
"We played pretty well early in the year and then had trouble finding consistency as the year progressed," he said. "We always seemed to have one or two bad innings defensively that we could not overcome."
Black said that the team's two biggest wins took place at home on the Manchester field, when they beat Central Holmes 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and when they defeated Benton 9-8 in overtime.
"Central Holmes and Benton were very good softball teams, as proven by Central Holmes winning the AA North State Tournament and Benton advancing to the AA Overall State Tournament," he said.
Black added that the most disappointing loss took place during the last game of the season.
"Our goal this year was to advance to the AA Overall State Tournament for the second year in a row, and we would have done that with a win against Winona," Black said. "Sydney Porter and Merrell Nichols pitched great, but several defensive lapses cost us as we lost 14-12. Any time you score 12 runs, you should win the game."
Black said that he hopes his team learned some things along the way this season.
"We need to learn how to play with a sense of urgency," he said. "Every at bat is important, every play on defense is important. It does not matter what the score is or what inning it is, you must stay focused and play hard the entire game."
Black said there were some improvements made this season. The team's batting average was .412 and their on-base percentage was .499.
Black said that individually, there were four players with batting averages over .500.
Sydney Porter led the team with a batting average of .567, followed by Merrell Nichols with .538, Lanie Potter with .531, and Thenya Kennedy with an average of .518.
"As a lead-off batter, Thenya led the team with an on-base percentage of .614, and the most runs scored with 33," Black said. "Merrell and Lanie led the team with seven doubles each, and Mikayla Williams had a team high of six triples."
Black said he hopes this season taught the team about how team sports translated into their everyday lives.
"We talked about how we cannot control many of the things that determine our success, but we can control three big ones: our Energy, Effort and Attitude," he said. "Much of our success in our relationships with family and friends, our success in school, and eventually our success with our jobs can be attributed to our energy, effort, and attitude."
Black said they had three seniors this year, and no juniors, and that there will be much more room to grow next year.
"We were a young team that gained some experience that will hopefully pay dividends in the future," he said. "I hope the younger girls see how close they came to advancing to the Overall State Tournament and set that goal for next year."
Black also had special thanks for three men who assisted in coaching the team this season, including Chris Nichols as assistant coach; William Porter, who never missed a game and kept all of the books and statistics for the team; and Jeffery Carpenter, who attended most of the practices and helped whenever and wherever he was needed.
"All three did a great job and were much appreciated," Black said
