By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

GREENVILLE -- This fall season brings a change at the top of the Greenville softball program as Bobby Montgomery will lead the Lady Bears.

The Lady Bears will no longer have the services of Sara Condray, who graduated, but Leah Hillis is shaping up to be solid on the mound, Montgomery said.

"She's been good about being consistent and hitting the strike zone," Montgomery said. "To me that is more important than throwing 90 mph. If I am against you and you can't hit the zone, my players can just go up there and stand."

The Lady Bears also lost a solid bat in Lindsay Henson who also handled the catching duties. However, Montgomery has high hopes for Hannah Boyer who has power and can hit in the middle of the lineup.

"She's a good hitter, and I think she can be tough," Montgomery said.

The Lady Bears will be a disciplined squad that gives 100 percent all the time, Montgomery said.

"We are going to have speed and focus on fundamentals because I think in order for us to get anywhere, we are going to have to be focused," he said. "Our mentality will have to be there. If we make mistakes against good teams, we are going to get beat."

The Bears baseball team is looking to replace key positions as power hitter Tim Hill and pitcher Joey Morey were among the seniors last season.

Coach Jason Hill likes the mix of young and experienced players he has this year, including Tyler Dougherty on the pitching mound.

"My older guys, seven seniors, these are the guys that have been starting for me for a while," Hill said. "I expect a lot of leadership out of them as far as how we go about our business."

Along with Dougherty on the mound, Jacob Simmons, Mykel Limanen and Scott Foster will handle some of the pitching duties.

"As far as mechanics goes, (Foster is) one of the most mechanically sound freshman I have ever had," Hill said.

VOLLEYBALL: The Lady Bears squad is coming off a 10-18 year and has many holes to fill.

They lost five seniors to graduation last season, many of whom saw significant time on the court. Miranda Stewart, Kaylin Becker and Tiffany Williams are back this year as seniors and should be significant pieces of the puzzle.

"They saw a lot of time at varsity last year and are really going to have to step up and help this year," Greenville coach Brent Huff said. "Those three girls need to really take leadership responsibilities over and help other girls understand what it takes to be successful."

The Lady Bears had a fair amount of athleticism on last year's squad but hope to bring some height to the court this season. Tara Porter, a forward on the basketball team will help in that department.

"Hopefully, she is going to make an impact," Huff said. "We will be more solid with the block which will help the defense out. I hope we will be able to run more offense and get things going."

A key for the Lady Bears will be reacting to the other team's first move, Huff said.

"Our big problem this year will be serve-receive," Huff said. "We are going to have to focus hard on that, we are going to have to get the ball to our setters."