By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor

Last season marked the beginning of a new chapter in the Van Far softball program.

Shaylen Bailey took over as head coach of a team that had three losing seasons in a row but ended up winning just three games. Most of the Indians women are back this season and determined to put up a much better performance.

Bailey said about three of the 13- to 14-year-old players are new, but all the others played on the team a year ago. Van-Far has about 25 total players for softball this season — nine seniors and 11 freshmen — and many of those girls are back in positions they’re comfortable in.

“Dalana (Gay) returns to the pitcher’s mound, which will help us a lot,” Bailey said. “Reeve (Woodall) returns to first base, which is her favorite spot. Our three sophomores who started for us last year are coming back stronger than last year in every way.”

Gay missed last year due to injury, so she can be the team’s No. 1 pitcher, and all-conference player Woodall can play first base more often this year after having to take on more pitching duties last year due to Gay’s injury. Kenya Jones, Mylee Keller and Elliott Utterback all expect big roles after their freshman years.

Keller expects to play shortstop, and senior Kayla Heaton will be moved to the outfield to take advantage of her “quick feet,” Bailey said. Jones has shown promise early in her season as the team’s catcher, and Utterback has a big bat and is also a speedy third baseman.

Bailey said Woodall will continue to serve as a backup pitcher, but the team also has promising freshman Ashlynn Grammer.

“We have a really strong first-year pitcher in Ashlynn Grammer,” Bailey said. “Grammer is the strongest first-year pitcher we have to date.”

Trinity Skwirtz and Makayla McCurdy are expected to man the other outfield positions and, along with new second baseman Mariah Maggard, will play larger roles than last season, Bailey said.

“Our field team is going to be a lot stronger this year than last year, just because of the work we put in this summer,” Bailey said. “Our girls are stronger and faster than last year.”

Van-Far returns several girls with batting averages over .300, including Woodall’s .417. Bailey said Kaelyn Hutcheson was another strong senior hitter for the Lady Indians, who had a solid on-base percentage of .342.

Still, Bailey said she would like to see the team’s hitting improve. So far, she said, it’s looking better and she’s looking forward to seeing how it does throughout the season.

“We mainly focus on technique and making sure everything works the way it should when hitting,” Bailey said.

If the Lady Indians can bring those skills to the field in nearly every game, Bailey predicts they will win more games and make more noise in tournaments.

“I think we’re going to get a lot better at hitting as the season goes on because you get to see the pitching and all that stuff live,” Bailey said. “A big goal for this year is to get solid at-bats and solid baserunning and make sure we’re aggressive when we run the bases.”