Lady Lions playing well after delays
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions resumed play this week after sacrificing last weekend’s tournament at Stephenville to weather.
On Tuesday, March 1 the Lady Lions lost a closely-played game to 4A Stephenville, 5-2, hosting at Webb Park.
Albany is playing in the Clifton tournament this weekend. On Thursday, March 3 (today), Albany plays Maypearl at noon and Gatesville at 1:30 p.m. Games on Friday, March 4 are Clifton at 9:00 a.m. and Glen Rose at 10:30 a.m. The Saturday, March 5 games are McGregor at 9:00 a.m. and Comanche at 10:30 a.m.
Lady Lions coach Jimmy Fuentes said weather cancellations such as last week’s are just a fact of life early in the season.
“These last couple of years, we’ve lost a tournament off the schedule,” he said. “Last year was Eastland, the first one of the season. This year, it was the second one.”
Fuentes said the situation leaves the Lady Lions playing catch-up.
“We were finally getting in the swing,” he said. “To have weather take an entire week away from you is frustrating.”
The biggest problem, Fuentes said, was not being able to see how some planned lineup adjustments would work out.
“Not only did we lose games not getting that tournament in, but we’re also getting some kids back that we didn’t have in the early season,” he said. “We could have used that time to work those kids in and look at some different kids in different spots. We’re going to have to alternate our game plan, switch them around a little bit quicker and a little bit more often than we anticipated.”
Members of this year’s Lady Lion softball team include seniors Ana Balliew, Kam Browning, Sara Smith, and Ansleigh Garcia, along with Haily Cox, Gracie Price, Braylyn Abbate, Ashlyn Holson, Robin Lucas, Gabby Lopez, Carissa Barrera, and Julia Vega.
