Williamsburg sophomore pitcher Kacey Smith is one of two hurlers the Lady Wildcats use this season.
Williamsburg sophomore pitcher Kacey Smith is one of two hurlers the Lady Wildcats use this season.

By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

Coming off of a resurgent season that saw the Williamsburg Lady Wildcats earn top honors in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division as well as a trip to the district semifinals, Rick Healey’s squad returns three All-League selections including reigning Player of the Year, Kacey Smith.

“We’re 6-1 to start and we just came off of a win over Western Brown (on Monday, April 13),” Healey said. “It was a good win; it was Western’s first loss and they have a quality team.

“We’re trying to go game-by-game, get through some injuries and right now, I would definitely say it’s a team effort.”

That effort is built upon a strong core of returning players that includes three seniors, a pair of juniors and six sophomores. Another six incoming freshmen have added to ‘Burg’s depth.

Perhaps the most important addition has been Carly Wagers, a pitcher and center fielder, who came into the season hoping to split time in the circle with Smith. However, with Smith going down with some bruising and inflammation around her knee caused by a leg length discrepancy, Wagers has stepped into a bigger role than even Healey expected.

“The plan was to go with the experience in the league games, which was Kacey because she’s proven herself, and then to give (Smith) her needed time off and go with Carly in nonleague games,” Healey explained. “Unfortunately, with Kacey down, Carly has had to pitch the last four games.”

If the switch-up has had any ill effects, they haven’t shown themselves from a pitching perspective. The Lady Wildcats lone loss came in a close 2-1 loss to Felicity last Monday in which a three-error inning allowed the Lady Cardinals to capitalize on Williamsburg’s mistakes.

With Smith hopeful to return into the mix on Monday, April 20 and the trio of seniors — Kennedy Clark, Faith Bickel and Shelby Shaffer — reacclimating from missing a few games due to vacation, ‘Burg gets into the meat of their schedule at full strength.

“I’m going to rely on Kennedy Clark heavily to keep these kids united as a team through the good and the bad,” Healey said. “And some of the younger kids, if they make mistakes, they’ll know that she has been there once, it happens and to keep your head up.

“The senior leadership is going to be extremely important moving forward.”

And as these seniors move forward into their final season in the blue and white, they’ll have a chance to repeat as National Division champions, although it won’t be easy.

“I sound like a broken record year after year, but the SBC is just an extremely strong softball league,” Healey said. “The SBC produces kids who play at the next level. There’s a lot of good softball players and if you take a night off in the SBC, it’ll be a five-inning game. You better come ready to play, play fundamentally sound or else you’ll head home with a loss.”

The Lady Wildcats embark upon a pretty important jaunt through their side of the SBC on Monday, April 20 when they host CNE, Blanchester and Georgetown on consecutive days before playing in the Western Brown Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25.