By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Hollister coach Willy Morgan reports Kendrick Bailey’s obligations to basketball over the past year have cut into the amount of time she’s devoted to softball.
Thus, Morgan isn’t expecting Bailey’s pitching to be sharp early on. But he is confident she won’t need long to work herself back to peak form and lead the Lady Tigers during her senior season.
“She was heavy into basketball last summer, so I didn’t have her as much as the summer before,” Morgan said, referring to Bailey’s busy summer on the recruiting trail that eventually led her to Harding. “She probably is going to be a little rusty coming out of the gate. But once she gets to throwing, she’ll get in a groove. I’ve never coached anybody like her. She’s such a competitor. If anybody can get back in a groove, it’s her.”
Just as Bailey made an immediate impact on the hardwood at Hollister upon transferring from Omaha, Arkansas, at the start of her sophomore year, she enjoyed instant success in the center circle. She posted an 11-6 W-L record with a 3.15 ERA and 115 strikeouts and 41 walks two years ago.
Morgan likes Bailey’s fastball-changeup combo and is hopeful she can add a curve ball to her repertoire.
“You look at her and you wouldn’t think she could throw as hard as she does. But she generates a lot of speed and is a strikeout pitcher,” Morgan said. “She has good command. She’s got a good fast ball and can spot it. She can mix it up. Her changeup is good and she’s working on a curve. That’s where we were at before COVID (cancelled the spring sports season) last year.”
Morgan is also looking forward to Bailey regaining her timing in the batter’s box. He expects her to hit out of the No. 3 hole.
“She’s such a good hitter, too, and is fast,” he said. “She’s a complete player.”
Bailey’s supporting cast includes a trio of juniors who started as freshmen. Morgan has discovered one of the repercussions of COVID wiping out last season is the seemingly overnight transition players the likes of juniors Shy Franzel and twins Mady and Jackie Pyatt have made toward being veterans.
“We kind of have gone being a young and upbeat to now all of a sudden being a veteran team. It’s kind of weird to think of them that way,” Morgan said. “You blink and you’re loaded with veterans. It will be interesting to see how we can start. Will we look like veterans and play like veterans?”
Franzel served as a utility player while hitting .300 as a freshman, but Morgan anticipates she will settle in this spring at shortstop.
Mady Pyatt will again be Hollister’s catcher and Jackie Pyatt will play at first. Jackie hit .277 with three home runs and 15 RBIs as a freshman, while Mady batted .327 with one homer and 11 RBIs.
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“Shy is such a competitor and can play about anywhere and hits well,” Morgan said. “I look for a lot of good things from her. “Shy, Jackie and Mady were All-District as freshmen. Our juniors are hard workers and hard-nosed. They love to work in the weight room.”
Jackie Pyatt has bounced back well from a torn ACL a year ago. With an eye on 2022, Morgan is anxious to have her resume work as a pitcher.
“I had high hopes for Jackie as a pitcher before she tore her ACL,” he said. “She hasn’t got to pitch much. She’ll be our ace when (Bailey) graduates.”
Morgan is optimistic the addition of assistant coach Bekah Glenn will lead Mady Pyatt to her potential behind the plate.
“Coach Glenn has done wonders with Mady and sophomore MacKenzie Hamilton is a catcher, too, who is looking good,” Morgan said. “We hit the jackpot with Bekah. She has knowledge of the catching game that is really a help.”
Hamilton’s full-time duties will see her starting at third base and possibly at the top of the Lady Tigers’ lineup.
“I could see MacKenzie being our leadoff hitter,” Morgan said. “When we played in our jamboree (last year), I put her in as a freshman leadoff hitter. She has a love for softball, a high softball IQ and a great looking swing.”
Morgan has seen enough of outfielder Kerrstin Habermann’s power stroke that he is confident she can supply extra-base punch.
“She hit a couple home runs last summer, homered in our jamboree and hits quite a few out in practices. I have high hopes for her,” he said.
Elsewhere, the lineup will consist of outfielders Chloe Hirsch, Alexia Wynia, Daniela Richardson and Dylan Hunt and infielders Jacie Bradley and Gracie Jennings.
“Jacie can play anywhere and is a good hitter,” Morgan said. “Chloe is a great contact hitter. Alexia is our best defensive outfielder and is much-improved hitting. Daniela is our hardest working player. She is very fast and aggressive.”
Morgan is hopeful a group of freshmen and sophomores led by Josie Craig and Kelly Garceau can eventually push for playing time and keep the starters motivated.
“Our freshmen and sophomores, I would have put some of those girls on our varsity four or five years ago,” he said. “But we’re so deep now that I’ll have them lead our jayvee and pull them up as needed. You want your younger girls to push the varsity girls. You always want players to be fearful of (losing) their position. If nobody feels safe, they’ll all try to outwork each other.”
