As the 2022 girls varsity softball season starts, there are many changes coming to both the team and staff. The first major change to the team is a whole new coaching team. Bill Boggs, the teams’ old head coach, had retired after the girls’ 2021 season ended. In between seasons, Freedom had found two new coaches. This season, the girls will be head coached by Ray Pranskey, while Ron May will be assistant coaching. With both coaches being new to Freedom, the girls were not sure what to expect. 

“The coaching change is difficult but giving them a chance is a huge part of it all. If we never give them a chance, we won’t be doing ourselves any favors,” sophomore Shaye Bailey said. 

This season, the girls team is made up of 10 girls amongst three grades. Harmony Martin, Lacey Shiring and Hope Daniel make up the freshman squad. The sophomores are represented by Bailey, Emilee Waggoner, Morgan Shaffer and Hannah Goins. Finally, the upperclassmen of the team are made up by juniors Kiersten Ferrell, Julia Young and Leyasa Young. All of these girls have played softball in some way before, so this year’s team is looking to be made up of some talented girls. 

The girls started practicing at the end of February, giving them a little under a month to prepare for their first game of the season. The girls’ first scrimmage of the season was scheduled for March 16 at home against Carlynton, but because of girls basketball winning their game on March 15, the softball team had to reschedule this game for a later date to have more girls to put on the field. The girls had one more scrimmage against California on March 22, and then their first official game of the season was on March 25 at the high school, against Rochester. This season the girls have a total of 19 games, eight of them being on campus and 11 of them with the girls traveling to other schools. 

“I’m looking forward to just being outside and having fun playing. And I think the team is going to have a decent season this season,” Leyasa Young said. 

With these huge changes coming to the team this season, there is a lot of anxiety going into this season between the small team and the new coaching changes. However, the team is looking forward to being out on the field again after these long two years of COVID-19 getting in their way. Even though the girls have been able to play, the girls have not gotten the full experience of being on the high school team.

 “I am so excited to play this season. It’s my first varsity season and I think we will do good,” Martin said.