Lady Mustangs eye return to state tourney

The Perryville Lady Mustangs finished 14-12 a year ago but failed to make the state tournament for the first time in several seasons. The Lady Mustangs, under coach Paul Gottsponer, had made the tournament at least five seasons in a row, dating back to 2012, but got beat in the first round of the Class 3A-1 Regional Tournament by Mansfield, 8-2. Perryville had swept the 3A-4 District Tournament, beating Paris 5-2 and Atkins 6-3. “The girls were disappointed that we did not qualify for the state tournament last year,” Gottsponer said. “Our goal is to get back to the state tournament this year.” Perryville returns five starters from last year, but they are all underclassmen. They are junior first baseman Sydney Jones, sophomore outfielder Abigail Barker, sophomore shortstop Bailey Camp, sophomore catcher Abby McKinney, and sophomore pitcher and third baseman Maggie Skinner. “We will be really young this year,” Gottsponer said “We lost three really good seniors from last year, but we have a really good group of ninth- and 10th-graders, who will play hard.” Gottsponer said Camp, Jones and McKinney are the best hitters for average. Camp, Skinner and McKinney are the best power hitters. The best fielders are Camp, Skinner and Jones. The team’s best speed belongs to Camp, Barker and junior Freia Pillack, the coach said, and the best arm defensively belongs to Camp, Skinner and McKinney. Gottsponer said his team’s best pitchers are Skinner, Jones and freshman newcomer Shelby Powell. Even though Camp is only a sophomore, Gottsponer said, she has received multiple collegiate offers.