Worth County has record numbers of players out for the 2020 softball campaign, with 21 coming out. That means that Coach Tiffany Bliley can scrimmage two teams against each other, which she did Friday morning.
The Tigers are coming off a 13-6 campaign, in which they won the GRC West title. They would like to finish on a better note than they did last year, in which they lost five out of their last six and lost in the first round of districts.
Worth County has seven seniors this year in Jill Hardy, Anna Spainhower, EmiLee Brown, Braidy Hunt, Megan Cassavaugh, Morgan Beagle, and Allison Larison. They all wear pink socks to every practice and game and they all put in extra hitting time after practice.
Bliley has an unusual luxury this year, as she has five players who can pitch; usually, the Tigers have two or three arms they can throw. Ali Brown and Braidy Hunt, last year’s regular pitchers, return this year. Taylor Sanders has developed a good drop ball, and struck out the side when she pitched Friday morning. Brooklyn Richardson showed a steady presence on the mound as a freshman, while Brylee Rush also showed potential on the mound.
Returning as catcher this year will be Megan Cassavaugh, but Autumn Cousatte, another freshman, will be the catcher for the future. Cousatte needed a couple of innings to get her confidence, but then she showed a good arm and a good pickoff move behind the plate. Allison Larison can also catch, and she is a good scooper of pitches in the dirt.
Worth County will have some big shoes to fill with the loss of Anna Gladstone and Merrideth Spiers. But they have three people vying to replace them; Anna Spainhower, Maddie Runde, and Kara-Jean Staton took turns at third base, while EmiLee Brown, Braidy Hunt, and Kynah Steele all handled first base duties. Brown showed a lot more range at her position this year, making a nice running catch of a pop fly, while Hunt had a nice dig of one errant throw.
Jill Hardy will return at shortstop, but Anna Spainhower and Brylee Rush can handle the position as well. Allison Larison played at second last year some.
The outfield was a strength for the Tigers last year, and all their horses return. Morgan Beagle made some diving catches there last year, while Aivry Griffin returns as well. Hailey Adwell, who provided some pop in her bat for the Tigers last year, will move to outfield this year, where she has a rocket launcher for an arm. Richardson, ZeeAnna Gladstone, Becca Smith, and Ali Brown can also play there along with Laine Cousatte.
Bliley has a new assistant this year in Ryan Laddish, in his first job out of high school. Worth County, like several other teams in the area, is scrambling to get games after the cancellation of the Albany Tournament. She said teams to watch this year will be North Harrison, Platte Valley, Stanberry, Albany, and Maysville.
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