2023 Spring Preview: Sparta Softball

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By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Few teams could match Sparta softball last spring.

The Trojans had their second straight winning season and finished 22-3 with a loss in the district championship. And the only three teams to beat Sparta went a combined 67-22; one was a quarterfinalist, one was a semifinalist and the third won Class 2.

The Trojans should return a handful of starters from that group, highlighted by second team Class 2 All-State pitcher Natalie Wilks, a senior who also earned first-team all-region and all-district honors and was the SWCL Conference Most Valuable Player.

“She is, in my opinion, the best softball player in southwest Missouri right now, especially for the spring season,” said coach Troy McPherson, who was the SWCL Coach of the Year last spring. “She’s everything you want in a key player and this being her senior year it’s going to be a really fun year to see her as she goes.”

She was a force offensively as a junior, batting .568 with a home run and an on-base percentage of .624. In the circle she pitched every inning of every game and totaled 240 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.2. She could approach 600 career strikeouts this season, in just three seasons.

The Trojans also return starters at catcher, first, third, shortstop and center field.

Senior Megan Brown (2nd team all-region, first-team all-district and all-conference) returns at shortstop and is “one of the best softball players I’ve seen in a long time,” McPherson said. “She’s the epitome of the great athlete. She’s one of those kids who’s all district in every sport she plays and I think she wants to go play college volleyball. Last year she went to state throwing the javelin. She’s a four-sport athlete.”

In softball she batted .478 with a home run and a .596 on-base percentage. She’s also a serious threat to steal bases.

At first is junior McKenzie Wilson, who McPherson describes as the “ultimate power hitter.” She earned second team all-region honors and was first-team all-conference and all-district after hitting .493 with four home runs batting cleanup.

Junior Averi Leyland returns at third after earning second-team all-conference and all-district honors. She also plays second and batted near the top of the order last season with a .423 average and four home runs.

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Returning in center field is junior Mya Fulton, a first-team all-conference and all district player as a sophomore. She’s a solid defender with a knack for getting on base; she batted .373 with a .537 OBP.

And catcher Madeline Brown, a junior, returns after making the all-conference first team and all district second team. She’s got a great arm behind the plate and batted .333 with a .435 OBP.

“Her working with Natalie is very important,” McPherson said. “She’s arguably the most important player on the field because she’s responsible for making Natalie look good. She’s got to hang in there for all the pitches with movement and drop and spin. She’s very important for our team success.”

Who fills the other positions remains to be seen, but junior Addi Taylor contributed as a freshman and was a courtesy runner last season. She could earn a starting job, and sophomore Avery Gardner, who primarily played junior varsity last season, could also be a contributor.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a different team,” McPherson said. “We lost two seniors who were both very important to us. Defensively we’re going to have to make some growth and that will be something we look for early on in the season. With the talent level we have and the level of pitching we have, I think we’re poised to make a deep postseason run. We got ousted in the district championship game because we struggled offensively and that’s probably an area we are going to have the most success but we’ll have to put some work in.

“Making sure we’re sound offensively in big game moments is going to be really important for us because this is a team that I feel confident in saying has an opportunity to make a run at the Final Four. I’m hoping we can take advantage of it.”

Sparta is moving to the Summit Conference next season and has added a few games against future conference opponents this spring. The Trojans once again play powers like Diamond and Kennett and have added teams like Forsyth and Harrison, Arkansas to the schedule.

“We’re very excited to see the level of team we can put out this year because we know the last two seasons we’ve had such great success and we’re hoping to grow on that and make a championship run,” McPherson said. “Hopefully we get ourselves a district championship and we’ll see what the future holds for us in the state tournament.”

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