Lady Wolves used offseason to focus on offensive grind

Lake Hamilton comes into the season with six seniors, ready to improve on last year. The team finished with a 17-16 record a year ago. There were some bumps along the way, but the lessons of teamwork and leadership were worth it, said coach Amy Teague, who has coached for 17 years. “I have six seniors, so I would like to hope that our leadership will be strong,” Teague said. “We have put an emphasis on teamwork, so I would like to see them really pull together in tough situations to get the job done, something I feel like we struggled a bit with last year.” In the 6A South, wins are hard to come by, and the Lady Wolves will face tough teams every time they step on the field, the coach said. “We have a tough schedule,” Teague said, “so most of our games will be challenging. I think our kids are ready to face the top teams in our conference: Benton, Sheridan and Greenwood. We do not have them in our regular-season schedule this year, so I guess we are looking forward to our conference tournament.” In order to improve over the offseason, the team has focused on increasing teamwork and getting better offensively. The coach said the players with the best average are Charlye Rowland, Jessye Rowland and Madison Hardcastle. The best power hitters are Hailee Quilici and Annalee Diehl. That type of offensive firepower could keep the Lady Wolves in games, even if their bullpen has a bad game, he said. Diehl and Charlye Rowland are also the team’s best pitchers, part of why they are college prospects. The other Lady Wolves that could go on to play collegiately are Quilici and Jessye Rowland, Teague said. He said the main goal for the season is “to be competitive in our conference and make a good run for a state championship.”