East Carter's Lindsay Crowley makes contact during a intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday afternoon in Ellsinore. (Alex Abate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

ELLSINORE -- The East Carter softball team literally has mounds of talent.

The Lady Redbirds have four pitchers heading into the season -- sophomore Mariah Randazzo, senior Bethany LeGrand, sophomore Courtney Newman and freshman Molly Freeze. All four are able to bring something to the mound, East Carter coach Angie Bowman said.

"The key will probably be pitching," Bowman said. "In the past, I might have a good pitcher here or there but I've never had this many pitchers at one time that can consistently do the job."

Bowman likes the idea of having many options throughout the contest.

"I'll be able to switch them in and out," Bowman said. "They throw at different speeds and have different styles. That, I hope, is going to throw the other team off a little."

The Lady Redbirds had a solid year last fall that was capped off by a district title win over Twin Rivers before losing in the sectional to Kelly.

"(The expectations) are high," Bowman said. "I want them to do well. I have a good outlook on our season."

The Lady Redbirds have four games in the opening week of play. They will face Twin Rivers, Naylor, East Prairie and Kelly.

"We play Kelly first, that is going to be a tough game," Bowman said. "We are going to jump right into it."

Although the Lady Royals will be a tough opponent, solid play in the district last year should help this season.

"We played them good in the district and that may have boosted (the players') confidence a little bit," Bowman said. "Maybe (we) will come out ready to play them."

On the baseball diamond, Brock Crowley, who is entering his fourth season, is excited about the upcoming year with a rather young squad.

One of the older players coming back for Crowley will be Dan Stromatt, a pitcher who saw extensive time on the mound last season.

"He will be our No. 1," Crowley said. "He threw a lot for us last year, he was one of the main ones. He is going to have to throw a lot of innings and have good innings for us."

With such a young team, Crowley is looking for the Redbirds to make progressive improvements as the season goes along.

"My expectations of this group right here, since we are really young, is just to improve every game," Crowley said. "We are going to struggle some, especially early, trying to find guys to fit in and find their roles."

The right mental approach for the young Redbirds is key, Crowley said.

"That is a big thing," Crowley said. "Coming in as a freshman, it is more difficult for a lot of players and it is easy for few. We have got a couple of freshman coming in this year that I think are going to be able to contribute."

The young freshman and sophomore will be filling various key positions this fall.

"Hopefully, they can mentally adjust and be ready to play," Crowley said.