Trending
ELLENBORO — Head coach Danny Vanoy's bunch is ready, as he's finding out what this team is made of in the early stages of this season.
"We did a weight program all through the summer and the fall and winter. We had pretty good participation there. We had 19 initially come out, and it was cut down to 16," Vanoy said. "I had what was supposed to be five returning seniors, and only two of those returned."
With question marks surrounding the team and trying to see where everyone fits in, the younger than expected Rebels have their work cut out for them. A trio of juniors take the field, as for the second season in a row, a youth movement is in full effect. Eight sophomores are on the roster, as a ninth who lettered in 2022 did not return for his second year. So, where do Vanoy and the Rebels go from here? Well, it's all about player development.
"I know we play tomorrow," Vanoy said the night before his team's season-opening game against Williamstown, played on March 16. "We're seeing where people fit in. We've got a couple promising freshmen. Brayson Hayes is a nice utility player. He pitches, catches and is a pretty versatile athlete."
A spot of veteran experience is in the outfield. All three starters return (Isaiah Lambert at CF, Ayden Sellers at LF and Jensen Lucas at RF), and lead pitcher Quentin Owens also comes back with young catcher Tony McBrayer behind the plate. Those six make up the top six spots of the lineup, as the last three spots are up for grabs.
"Noah Hamilton is a left-hander. He pitches and swings the bat pretty well. Bryce Satterfield will probably be in the 8-hole," Vanoy said. "It'll be him or Ryan Weekley, who's a junior. Satterfield is a junior, and I may have Weekley doing some DH duties initially to see how that pans out. In the 9-hole is Garrett Flesher. He's a sophomore and a returning letter winner. That's probably how we're going to start of and see how it goes from there."
Still, Vanoy sees how much promise this group has. Even though it's younger than once thought.
"It's a pretty talented group of kids," he said. "They're just raw. I call it raw talent, so I think it's going to take them a few reps to get their confidence and learn to work together. From a coaching aspect, those reps are going to reveal who's supposed to be where. Once that happens, I think they're going to settle in and start playing some pretty good ball. I'd say by about 8-10 games in, midway though the season, we should start gelling."
While Vanoy is keeping expectations at a realistic level, he still believes his team could finish in the top four in the Little Kanawha Conference and also top three in its section. Time will ultimately tell.
SOFTBALL
Entering his 39th year, head softball coach Dave Mossor comes in with an older team than he had a year ago, but it's still young when compared to some of his other recent squads. However, that won't deter the veteran coach and his team from putting their best feet forward.
Going down the lineup, Mossor noted a combination of proven commodities and young players who've yet to hit their respective ceilings.
"We have four seniors who will start, I think. First baseman Olivia Dodd, shortstop will be Marissa Jeffrey, center field will be Karleigh Sonju, and Maci Ireland should be my left field starter, but she has a shoulder injury. It's hurting her bad. She can't swing a bat, so we've got a couple freshmen we want to put in there, a sophomore and another senior. I don't know who's going to be there, but I've got the best catcher in the state of West Virginia."
Mossor was, of course, referring to Jayci Gray. The stalwart behind the plate was a second team all-state selection a year ago, and Mossor believes she's a lot better than what some say around the state.
"She should have been first team," he said. "Nobody ran against her, and we ran against everybody that came up against us, and she batted over .500 for us last year. I've got four sophomores who can pitch. Lillie Mond and Emma Blair will probably be the first two pitchers. Our right fielder will be Kila Frymier, and she'll also pitch. My third baseman and second baseman are Blake and Baylee Butta. Both of them are sophomores. They've got strong arms and are learning their positions, but they can hit. My whole team can hit."
Judging by RCHS's performances in scrimmages, this team's firepower is not to be taken lightly. A scrimmage against Liberty (Harrison) saw the Rebels blast a veteran pitching staff, and the beginning of regular-season LKC play saw Wirt County fall in a 6-2 contest on March 21. Mossor says if his team can't hit, they'll be "up the river without a paddle", but as long as the bats serve as the proverbial paddles, things should pan out, offensively. The youth of the team, which includes seven sophomores is a group Mossor says needs to keep improving. Development at this stage of the year is key, and in left, Ava McFeely slots in when needed. The freshmen duo of Clarinda Perkins and Emily Bush may also see time in different roles. Senior Riley Gribble and sophomore Savannah Shepler are in the same boat as those freshmen, but time will tell where each of those players see playing opportunities.
Despite losing five starting seniors to graduation following 2022, this Ritchie County team is ready to see what it can do.
TRACK AND FIELD
Rick Haught and Lindsey Garrett are back at the helm of the Ritchie County track program, and also back are scorers from last year's state championship meet. The boys gave eventual champ Doddridge County a run for their money before finishing in second by six team points. For Haught and company it's about building off that runner-up finish and incorporating new faces to replace outgoing athletes. That's easier said than done, however.
"The offseason with track isn't much here. The offseason with track at Ritchie County High School is about saying, 'How many other sports can we get kids out for?' A lot of the other key kids are playing other sports, and we need to get them out for track, keep them in shape and help the track program," Haught said. "We graduated a lot. I don't have figures on that, but the kids who scored points, a lot of them are gone."
A bright spot is the state-qualifying relay teamer and pole vault champion, Kodi Camp. He won the title with a vault of 12-06, as he comes back for his senior season. From there, Haught says the rest of the team is "green" as far as experience goes.
"I've got about 30 bodies. Bodies are good. We got a lot of freshmen to come out, and we got 14 of them," he said. "A couple of them, I think are going to step in and do some good things The kid I think can step up and score points for us is Alex Owens. He's a junior, and last year was a learning year for him. He did some good things for us in relays, and I'm excited to see what he can do in the 400 and 800."
Haught says through conditioning and seeing what works in early-season meets the true identity of his team will take shape. Eventually, Haught says they'll figure out where people can go to "cause the most damage at a conference meet or state meet."
All five seniors are returning lettermen, while two of the team's eight juniors are letter winners. While there aren't a lot of returning letter winners. Haught and company are ready to see where the chips fall.
As for Garrett's girls, a third-place showing at state featured some scores who are gone and some who return. A big similarity is the loss of each team's high-point winner, but Garrett says she's got a group of girls prepared to make it back to the big stage.
"We have a small team again this year," she said. "We're a bit thin on sprints, so we're heavier in the distance. Right now our track is being redone and remodeled, so we don't really have a field to practice throws, but other than that, we have a lot of strong returners. We're pretty confident with how we'll do this year."
Marissa Scott (hurdles/sprints), Emily Griffin (sprints/relay), Sydney Kopshina (pole vault/sprints) and Maci Hilvers (throws) all return after scoring at state, and it'll be those four plus other returning relay athletes who will be called upon the most.
"I have a new freshman who is a solid distance runner, Bentlee Williams. Most of my distance girls are returning, so my 4×8 is going to be strong (with Andrea Davis, Kaitlyn Sullivan, Chesnee Williams and Whitley Patterson). They were pretty hungry last year for it. Now that they have more experience, they know what they have to do to get there."
The offseason for Garrett's group consisted of a number of athletes running with assistant coach Terry Williams with the PaceSetters Running Club to stay hard at work throughout the winter months. Treadmill training and indoor meets have kept the sprinters in shape, as Garrett looks forward to this season.
"It's pretty much business as usual here," she said. "There are things like us not being able to get the pole vault mats out, but drill-wise and running workout-wise, we're still, for the most part, getting the majority of what we want in. This is my third year having these seniors, and they know how the program is going to work. They know what to expect, and how what we do translates to how we perform. They know what it's going to take to achieve a state title or a conference title."