On the first day of softball practice at Milan High School, only 11 girls showed up to represent the Lady ‘Cats program in its first journey into the Grand River Conference. Â However, despite the lack of depth, Milan appears, on paper, to have many of the necessities covered to have a successful season. Â Milan boasts an ace pitcher, defensive strength right up the middle of the diamond, and veteran experience and savvy up and down the lineup. Â Avoiding injury, needless to say, will be crucial for Coach Nathan Dodson’s charges in 2016.
In a mid-week interview with KTTN Sports Director Tom Johnson, Coach Dodson admitted that the newness of the Grand River Conference, particularly in seeing new faces in places like Maysville, Bethany, and Polo, brings excitement into the season:
Milan does have experience in playing Princeton, Gallatin, and Trenton among its new conference foes, and the Lady ‘Cats will see a long-time very familiar foe on opening night, traveling to Unionville to tangle with the rival Putnam County Lady Midgets in the GRC opener for both schools on Tuesday, August 23rd. Â Putnam County, before hosting Milan, will host former conference rival Scotland County to open the Midget season on Monday, August 22nd. Â
Milan’s veteran coach specifically spoke the strengths of his squad coming into 2016:
Much like a quarterback in football or a point guard in basketball, the softball pitcher with the ability to get her team into the dugout with minimal damage done is crucial to success. Â On that front, Milan has an experienced, savvy, and talented southpaw in Kenna Michael, who continues to show improvement as she adds experience to her resume:
In GRC softball games of note for Milan, the Lady ‘Cats will host Maysville on Thursday, September 1st, travel to Trenton on Thursday, September 8th, and host the Gallatin Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, September 13th.
Picture credit – Milan C-2 website / www.milan.k12.mo.us
