Workouts underway for AHS softball, baseball
By Donnie A. Lucas
Workouts for softball and baseball have started in the last week, with track practices starting Monday for high school.
With basketball season still in session, there will be some overlap especially on the boys side. The Lady Lions will play their final game of the season on Friday, but the boys’ varsity has a game next Tuesday and then will move on to the playoffs.
The softball team is scheduled to open the season on Saturday in Snyder for a four-team scrimmage starting at 10:00 a.m. They will also play at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
The baseball team is on the schedule to host a JV tournament on Feb. 23-25, followed by both varsity and JV games against DeLeon on March 2.
The track season will start on Feb. 25 at the Breckenridge meet.
Softball Outlook
Coach Jimmy Fuentes is expecting a total of 13 on his roster this season. Nine have started workouts, and four more will join them when basketball is over.
The Lady Lions were poised to have a stellar season last year, placing in two tournaments and winning the last one in Clifton before school was cancelled for the rest of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am looking for the girls to pick up where they left off last year,” Fuentes said. “We were on a roll, and I want us to get back to that point as quickly as possible.”
The girls lost two key players to graduation off last year’s team, but have three seniors who participated in Albany’s trip to the state tournament three years ago.
The Lady Lions have also changed districts in the biennial shuffle by UIL. Now a member of District 8-2A, Albany joins Cisco as the only other 2A school in the mixed district. They are joined by 1A Baird, Eula, Cross Plains, and Gorman. May and Rising Star are also members of the district, but both have indicated they will not be fielding teams this season.
Albany and Cisco are both assured of a playoff berth as the only 2A members, while the 1A school will move into a separate bracket for the playoffs.
The Lady Lions are leaving District 7-2A, which includes Anson, Hamlin, Haskell, Hawley, and Stamford.
“We have seen two of the 1A schools already drop out, which will make it hard to find replacement games, especially since they come later in the season,” the coach said. “All the games count towards the district record even though we will be splitting going into the playoffs.”
The coach also said that with only two 2A teams advancing, there will likely be byes in the early playoff rounds, which he said doesn’t not help a team prepare for tougher competition.
The Lady Lions will host Anson in a scrimmage on Friday, Feb. 12, followed by the season opener in Albany against Miles on Feb. 16.
The team will play in three tournaments this season, including Eastland, Stephenville, and Clifton.
Baseball Starting Slow
Like their softball counterparts, the baseball team was off to a 7-0 strong start last spring, only to have the season disappear due to the coronavirus.
“We were in the middle of the Brock tournament when the state closed the schools,” coach David Fairchild said. “We were off to a very strong start, and I really think that we could have gotten back to the state tournament.”
The coach is expecting about 22 players this season, but he only has five who started workouts this week because both JV and varsity basketball is still in season.
The coach said he lost three starters off last year’s team, including his main pitcher. He added that he has four pitchers this season, but two are young and don’t have varsity experience.
Albany moved to District 8-2A along with most of their previous district members, including Haskell, Hawley, and Stamford. The new district also includes two former 3A schools that moved down – Anson and Cisco.
“They added two very competitive teams to our district, so it’s going to be really tough,” he said.
Also joining the district are 1A schools Baird, Benjamin, Eula, and Knox City.
The 1A schools share the district number with 2A, but that is about all. They will play a separate schedule and advance into a 1A bracket of the playoffs.
Currently, none of the 1A schools are on the schedule to play the 2A members of the new district.
The Lions are scheduled to play in the Glen Rose tournament on March 4-6, then host a varsity tournament on March 11-13.
