The DeKalb County High School Tigerettes softball team hosted a play day last Saturday, hosting teams from Watertown and Warren County as they prepare for their season opener. The practice games got some needed on-the-field play time for the teams, with DeKalb showing resilience in their first game, overcoming a huge lead against Watertown.
As for pitching, the Tigerettes have some new talent on the field with freshmen Kora Kilgore bringing her talent from last season’s Lady Saints lineup.
“Kora is going to be a good arm for us,” said Tigerettes Head Coach Danny Fish. “She just needs to settle in and get those freshman jitters out of the way. Bri Murphy is probably going to be our ace. She was really good last year as a freshman. Gracie Randolph is our other arm. She’s a new player for us. She’s a sophomore.”
“I like our team,” Coach Fish continued. “This finally the first in several years where we have a lot of upperclassmen as well as underclassmen too. We’ve been kind of underclassmen stacked the last couple of years. So, I’m hoping those hard, tough experiences as freshmen and sophomores is going to pay off as juniors and seniors.”
Leading the team will be a couple of veteran players for the Tigerettes. “We have two seniors this year, Kennedy Polk and Jacey Hatfield our catcher and shortstop,” Coach Fish explained. “Both of them have started for four years, so we’re going to lean on their leadership and experience to help the younger players and to put them into position to where they can be successful.”
This season finds the Tigerettes with some big changes to the district with the addition of several eastern teams, and the loss of some old foes. “We’re in 7AAA this year, which is a pickup of White County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial. It will be them, us, Livingston, Macon, and Upperman. It’s going to be a very difficult district. Macon is returning everybody, and Upperman is returning everybody. We couldn’t get past them last year, and it was the first time for us missing the region since 2005.”
Coach Fish said that his team has a renewed attitude this year, and looks to see that translated onto the field. “I thought last year we weren’t as hungry as we needed to be. It’s a large bullseye between district championships and our district. Everyone’s going to give us their best game because of the history of our program.”
“We added White County this year,” Fish continued. “They have a South Carolina signee as their center and a UTC signee as their pitcher. They beat us 5-1 over there last year, but I think we are a little bit better. We just have to keep playing and keep moving. Just keep playing Tigerette softball. We’ve got a tough schedule, so we’re going to have to come play every day.”
The Tigerettes begin their season on Tuesday, March 15, at 5:00 p.m., as they host Livingston Academy.
