Girls open with tie in Eastland
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions softball team opened the spring sports season Tuesday, Feb. 14, with a 4-4 tie with Eastland.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Albany but was moved to Eastland because of field conditions.
Details will be reported next week.
The Lady Lions are playing in their first tournament Friday-Saturday, Feb. 17-18, also at Eastland. Other tournaments are set for Feb. 23-25 at San Angelo and March 2-4 at Clifton.
Albany’s next home game is 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 against Abilene Cooper at Webb Park.
Baseball
The Albany Lions baseball team will open its season. Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Brady tournament.
Albany will also host a junior varsity tournament Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 23-25.
“We’ve got plenty of kids out,” Lions coach David Fairchild said. “Our biggest problem is we couldn’t get on the field because of the weather. We’ve practiced on the football field and we’ve had a couple of practices indoors.”
Fairchild said good numbers in the program make it possible to field two teams for the weekend even with Albany qualified for the boys basketball playoffs.
“In the past, I’ve never had enough varsity guys to play that first weekend because they’ve always been in basketball, but I’ve got six or seven returning starters,” he said. “We’ll add some JV guys to that and go get two games in.”
Last spring, the Lions reached the regional finals for the fifth time since 2016 and have several key pieces returning for another playoff run.
Cole Chapman and Cole Read give the Lions a solid 1-2 punch on the mound as well as filling infield spots.
Infielders Zane Waggoner, Coy Lefevre, and Cason Fairchild also return, as do outfielders Caden Price and Tyler Chapman.
Cole Chapman and Price have been selected for this summer’s Big Country FCA All-Star Festival baseball game in San Angelo.
This season, Albany will play in the Bells/Bonham tourney March 2-4 and host its varsity tournament March 9-11. The Lions open District 8-2A play Tuesday, March 21 at home against Hawley.
“We need these tournaments to figure out where we are,” David Fairchild said. “It’s not so much about winning as it is trying to get everybody in the correct position and going in the right direction.”
Other Sports
The Albany tennis program opened its season Thursday, Feb. 16 (today), against Abilene Christian at Rose Park Tennis Center. The team has five outings scheduled to prepare for district play, including a home date on March 9. The District 10-2A tournament is March 27-31 at Rose Park.
The boys golf team will tee off its season Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Abilene High tournament at Maxwell Golf Course. The first girls golf outing will be Monday, Feb. 27 at Hawley, where the boys team is also scheduled to compete. District 10-2A rounds for boys and girls will be played Monday, April 3 at Baird’s Shady Oaks Golf Course and Tuesday, April 4 at Sweetwater Country Club.
Track starts its season Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Breckenridge relay meet. The Albany Roaring Lions Relays on March 23 will be among six meets the teams attend before district. The District 10-2A meet is Thursday, April 6 at Cisco.
