By Chris Parker
Fair Play won double-digit games for the first time since 2014 going 10-12 in 2019.
The Hornets have a strong nucleus of seniors returning to lead the team. The top of that group is Chyler Welch, who was named first-team all-conference last year. She will be the team’s main pitcher this season but can play any position. Welch hit .431 with 16 stolen bases last year.
Fellow seniors Braydon Thomas (catcher) and Breezy Wilson (centerfield/catcher) are two more senior leaders Fair Play will look to. Thomas stole 11 bases in 2019. Wilson added in 11 stolen bases of her own.
Sophomore Meghan Hoxsie will be Fair Play’s second pitcher. Freshman Ashlynne Kirksey will also be a factory at catcher. Hoxsie hit .274 with 12 stolen bases as a freshman.
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL OF THE FALL PREVIEWS
The infield will be comprised of Jaden Dollar (junior third base), Haleigh Harris (freshman second base), Hoxsie (shortstop) and Kirksey (first base). Kat McDougal (junior), Anna Grove (freshman and Wilson will be the top outfielders.
“Over the summer, I had nine girls, so it is really the strength of us being a strong unit. We need everyone to have a team, so they are growing together along with great leadership from my seniors. I feel like this group of girls has really come together. We are going to be young and that means that we have to work out the kinks of nerves and really do a lot of repetition work,” Fair Play head coach Alicia Mercer said. “With being so young, we need to find our confidence and learn to let loose and play. We need to clean up the mistakes and focus on getting a lot of reps batting and a lot of repetition of just the basic fundamental work. We need to learn to be tougher mentally because we will make mistakes, but those mistakes don’t have to be the end all.”
Fair Play opens the season Aug. 28-29 at the Humansville Tournament.
“The team this year is young and we lost a lot of key players for us, so our freshmen are put into a situation where they will have to step up and play right away,” Mercer said. “I feel like the success will come from them all coming together with each other and being encouraging instead of blaming or getting angry.”
