Spring season workouts get underway
By Donnie A. Lucas
Workouts for both baseball and softball have started at the high school, with the softball team to open the season on Feb. 18. The baseball team isn’t on the schedule to play its season opener until Feb. 27 during the local tournament.
Softball coach Jimmy Fuentes reported that he has 18 girls out for softball this season, although a few are still involved in basketball.
“We didn’t have any seniors to lose off of last year’s team,” he said. “So we will have more experience, especially since we played so many freshmen last year.”
The big news for this season, according to the coach, is that Elia (Hebel) will be back in the line-up. Hebel, who plays year-round on a travel or select team, missed the entire 2019 season due to a knee injury suffered at the end of basketball season last year.
“Having Elia back, along with the rest of the team gaining more experience, will really help us out,” Fuentes said. “Our numbers are back up some, so we might even be able to play a few JV games when we can pick them up.”
The Lady Lions finished fourth in the district last year, losing to Windthorst in the bi-district round. Albany advanced to the state tournament in 2018.
The team will compete in District 7-2A again this year, which includes four 2A teams, plus Eula in 1A. Other 2A members of the district are Haskell, Hawley, and Stamford.
All four of the 2A teams are guaranteed a playoff berth since four advance.
Albany will play Eula during district, but the Lady Pirates will advance separately into the 1A bracket of the playoffs. Technically, Baird is listed as another 1A member of the district, but the Lady Bears are not fielding a team this season.
Baseball Looks Strong
Lion baseball practices have also begun, with a total of 18 players signed up. The numbers are down several players from last year, and some players are still involved in basketball.
The baseball team advanced to the state tournament last year, losing to Big Sandy in the semifinal game.
The Lions finished in second place behind Hawley last year, with Haskell and Stamford advancing in third and fourth. All four 2A district teams will again advance into the playoffs.
“This is a very tough district,” coach David Fairchild said. “There has been a team from our district at the state tournament six out of the last nine years.”
The coach said he lost three seniors off of last year’s team, with eight returning starters.
“Your team is only as good as your pitching staff,” Fairchild said. “We have three good pitchers returning with Ben West, Cade Neve, and Jackson Chapman to help us on the mound.”
The coach said he isn’t sure about fielding a JV team at this point since numbers are lower.
Albany will again host a season-opening tournament on Feb. 27-29 to start the season.
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