Lady Lions start out with 8-5 win

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions were forced to open their softball season without benefit of a preseason scrimmage.

The Lady Lions hosted Abilene Cooper JV on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at Webb Park, winning 8-5. Details will be reported next week.

Albany’s scrimmage at Snyder on Saturday, Feb. 5, was cancelled because of the winter storm that hit the area. Coach Jimmy Fuentes said efforts to find a replacement for last week were unsuccessful.

“Everybody was packed,” he said. “We tried, but it was all filled.”

That left the Lady Lions with ground to make up in the early portion of the season. Albany will play five games this weekend at the Eastland Tournament.

“We’re just going to play ourselves into shape,” Fuentes said. “We’re just glad we’re finally getting to do something. We’re tired of practicing, and we’re ready to play a ballgame.”

At Eastland, Albany will play Clyde at 1:00 p.m. and Merkel at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Lady Lions take on Wall at 8:00 a.m., Coleman at 10:00 a.m., and Jim Ned at 6:00 p.m.

“We just need to get started and hopefully pick up where we left off last year,” he said. “We made the playoffs, but we had to rely on some young kids. Hopefully, they’ll realize what it’s all about and get off to a better start.”

Fuentes said a large group of seniors helps make that possible.

“This is the biggest senior class we’ve had in a while,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll see them start off faster and be leaders for us.”