Neelyville coach Justin Dobbins demonstrates arm exercises at a recent Tigers practice as his players look on. Dobbins is the new baseball coach this fall. (Alex Abate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

NEELYVILLE -- The Neelyville Tigers are getting some fresh stripes heading into this fall sports season.

Justin Dobbins will be the baseball coach, and Elizabeth Ponder will head the softball program this season.

Dobbins, who is coming from two years with a successful Clearwater program, is taking over for Jared Beaird.

"I think Neelyville was a bunch last year that was young, but I thought they had some potential," Dobbins said. "Basically, I am a little bit old school and I do things a certain way and I am just hoping to come in here and put my system in here and try to get the guys to buy in."

Dobbins led Clearwater to the MSHSAA quarterfinal before losing to eventual state champion Scott City, and his Tigers at Neelyville are returning a solid core of players, including pitchers Jordan Thomas and Austin Russom.

"We lost one senior and we have a good bunch of juniors and some guys in the younger grades that are going to be able to help is a little bit," Dobbins said. "We are bringing back most of our starting lineup and they were pretty competitive last year. They weren't a pushover by any means last year."

Dobbins doesn't want to focus on the past performances of the program but on this season and beyond.

"We do everything a certain way, we do everything together," Dobbins said. "We go 100 percent all the time and I feel like if we can focus on the fundamentals and work as hard as we can possibly work, we will be fine."

If the Tigers are successful, among the keys will be doing the little things, Dobbins said.

"It is a very disciplined style with a lot of hard work and a lot of self-discipline," Dobbins said. "I really preach mental toughness a lot and I feel like if you can combine those things with fundamentals and playing the game right and doing all the little things right, you can put together a pretty successful season."

Ponder leads softball

On the softball diamond, Elizabeth Ponder is taking over for long-time coach Bill Alexander.

"There are some big shoes to fill but I think, working with the girls, we can do it," Ponder said.

Ponder has been a junior high coach but has never coached at the high school level. Ponder likes her chances if her team comes together well.

"It definitely takes dedication," Ponder said. "It takes the entire team to win."

Ponder wants her team to play hard on the diamond and take that gritty attitude into the classroom.

"I am very hard on them with grades," Ponder said. "If you can't learn in the classroom, then you can't be out there."

This is the second in a series of previews featuring Ozark Foothhills Conference schools. Tuesday's edition will feature Naylor.