State champion Tigers get back to business next week
The Katy Tigers won their first softball state championship last June, making for a very enjoyable offseason.
But now it’s time to get backto business.
They open their Class 6A championship defense next Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Katy ISD tournament.
“We celebrated for a while,” coach Ka lum Haack said.
“We enjoyed the moment, because those don’t happen very often, so we had a good time over the summer.”
Haack’s hoping for another moment.
The longtime coach, entering his 18th year at Katy, said he never considering retiring with a storybook ending.
“I like coaching too much, I like being around kids too much, and so it’s still a lot of fun for me,” he said.
“Until that changes, I’m going to keep going.”
The Tigers also face a new challenge this year – playing with a target the size of Texas on their uniforms.
That’s howit goes as defending state champs.
“One of the big things that we’re trying to focus on is to make sure our players realize they have to show up every single day,” Haack said. “They can’t think that because wewon it last year, it’s going to be automatic for us this year, and here at our first scrimmage, they played that way.
“So it’s always a learning process, and we’re still focused on getting better each day.”
Katy dropped its first scrimmage 7-1 to Cypress Ranch, but Haack said it was an early wakeup call for his returners.
And there are a lot of players back.
Pitcher/cleanup hitter Kourtney Coveney, who is at West Texas A&M, is the only starter who graduated.
Junior Kylie Redding is the leading candidate to take her place.
But the Tigers also welcomed a standout freshman in Chloe Cobb, who Haack said is a huge addition.
“She might be the fastest player wehave onthe team, and she’s also about 5-11, so she’s a really good athlete,” Haack said. “She swings the bat really, really well, too, so she’ll be on the field if she’s not pitching.”
Catcher Corey Burrough, center fielder Katie Clark, second baseman Nicole Valdez and third baseman Kayla Garcia all return.
“I expect us to do well, but one of the things last year is, I thought we had an ordinary team, and all of a sudden they did some extraordinary things, which made us really, really strong,” Haack said.
“So we’ve got to try to find whatever it is that made us play that way, think that way, compete that way, and if we find it, we should be in pretty good shape.”