SPENCER — Building off a 15-10 campaign from a year ago, the Roane softball team returns experienced pieces, as head coach Sam Salvucci looks for big things out of his lineup.

Behind the plate will be (Alexis) Burdette, a fine defensive catcher who will bat cleanup. (Mahailey) Nicholson will be on the mound. She pitched every inning for us last year and comes back bigger and stronger,” he said.

That established connection paves the way for other established players to also exceed expectations.

Two starters are back at the corners for their third year,” he said. “Lacy Mitchell is at first. She hit five home runs last year and was a second team all-state selection.”

The power bats don’t stop there.

“(Mikayla) Boatright is another big hitter at third,” Salvucci said. “Piper Harlen moves from the outfield to short and will bat third. She hit close to .500 all last year. Elizabeth Greathouse will put her quickness to use at second base.”

The outfield is still up in the air, but established players still make up two-thirds of those spots. Still the goal of a winning season is something this team sees as attainable.

“Karli Greathouse is back in center and provides much team leadership,” Salvucci started. “(Fair) Smelko moves from left to right and will hit leadoff. (As a result), left field is still up for grabs. As always, we will try to learn life’s lessons and strive to have a winning season.”

TRACK AND FIELD

The Roane County boys of head coach Toni McGinnis and girls of head coach Paul Williams went on different trajectories in 2022. The girls did not qualify for state, but are a small and balanced group heading into 2023. The boys are a larger group that returns some state qualifiers with more underclassmen than upperclassmen.

“They’re all multi-sport athletes, so they were off doing basketball, wrestling, all of that,” McGinnis said of her boys team. They all came in in good shape, so that’s a plus. I have some newcomers who are looking hopeful, so that’s always a plus. This year, we added Brandon Richardson. He played football. He’s very, very fast, and he’s a (spring) dual-athlete also, because he’s playing baseball. He’ll be joining us when he doesn’t have baseball going on. He’ll be running the 1, 2, 4×1 and the 4×2. Briar Begler is still there (on relays), Skyler Delk, Shay Harper. Paul O’Brien will be running the 4×1 when Brandon’s not there.”

More mixing and matching takes place, as Begler may run the 100 if he isn’t chosen to run in the longer sprint races or the 4×4. Halfway through last season, McGinnis moved pieces around and watched as the 4×400 team of Begler, Harper, Jobe Portillo and Alexander Hall made it to state. Begler, Harper and Portillo all return.

Of course, to make it to Charleston, you have to take care of business elsewhere, and the Little Kanawha Conference’s reputation for being the best small conference in the state is backed up by McGinnis.

“We could take our top six placers in the LKC and go head-to-head with any other conference in the state,” she said. “You always hope to be competitive with those teams. I’ve got a lot of young guys who are still learning and are new to the sport. I have that handful of juniors and seniors who are also good. Last year, we were on a roll, and then unfortunately we got kicked off our track (due to renovations). Practicing in a parking lot just doesn’t cut it. That happened right in the heart of our season.”

McGinnis added that it was an obstacle that possibly prevented the team from being where they would have been by year’s end, but that core group of Begler, Harper, John Bowen (pole vault) and Luke Watson (300) will be able to shine in 2023. In the case of Begler, he’s missed all-LKC honors by half a point the past two years, so McGinnis said that’s just something else he wants to accomplish.

“He’s hungry. He wants that honor,” McGinnis said of the senior. “It’s not that he’s not ran his best and not put everything into it, you just run into the LKC. A half-point is the difference between placing and not, and it’s happened to him twice.”

Between wild cards like Cobun Cottrell (high jump) and Lane Watson, point-scoring opportunities may be there for the Raiders’ taking. It’s just a matter of guys like those putting it together, according to McGinnis.

“It’s going to be a trial and error period those first few weeks just to see where everybody fits in,” she said. “We’ll go from there and make adjustments, if needed. We’ll hope and pray for the best.”

The smaller girls team is a work in progress, but Williams’ group is in it to continue growing.

“Well, it’s really continuing to be a rebuild,” he said. “Numbers are still climbing a little bit after coming back from COVID when they shut us down. My largest group is probably my seniors. They bring back some talent. I’ve got two of those seniors who have been here all four years now. They’ve been on a number of relays. That’s Mikalah Clarkson and Kaitlyn Clarkson. Kaitlyn also does long jump along with both of them doing sprints and relays.”

That’s not all for Williams’ senior experience.

“Alyvia Freeland ran track in middle school and came back to it here at the high school. She does long jumps, sprints and relays as well,” he said. “A new addition who hasn’t run since middle school who’s a senior also is Maddie Hall. We’re looking at her for some hurdles as well as some other sprints and relays. That group of seniors is a good group as far as leadership.”

The future is still full of promise. For example, Williams is looking forward to younger athletes like Lillian Sotomayor and Paige Blosser. That duo is prepped for sprints long and short, as Williams is excited to see what his team can accomplish.

“Overall, it’s exciting to have this group of girls,” he said. “They’re working hard, and it’s really been a blessing when you look at additions to the coaching staff we’ve had in Steven McGinnis and AJ McGinnis. Former athletes who ran track here. Steven has become my assistant coach. AJ is working as an auxiliary coach. It’s a big help having the two of them here, because as a coaching staff, we’ve been able to work and get these kids better prepared. We’ve been able to isolate a little bit more in certain areas. They’ve taken a lot of the sprint runners and hurdlers. Toni has taken the distance runners, and it’s made me be able to work with throwers more, but overall, we’re excited to be back at it again.”

While Williams notes the size of his team will prevent it from scoring highly, individual performances will help the team continue to improve throughout the year. The biggest takeaway from last year to this year for Williams is how the team battled through tough times.

“They went through all types of adversity. Especially with these seniors, they faced all types of adversity, and they come back every day,” he said. “They come back trying to work and get better.”