Lady Apaches looking for another title in 2018
With eight starters back from a team that finished 33-4 with conference, district and Class 4A state championships, Pottsville’s Lady Apaches look to be one of the favorites to repeat in 2018. “High expectations,” coach Greg Jones said. “Hard work and effort will be the key to matching last year’s success.” The state title was the school’s first in softball, and with it has come added expectations. “I always say there are four phases,” said Jones, who led Dardanelle to a state title before coming to Pottsville in 2010. “First, you have to teach them how to compete. Then you have to teach them how to win. Then you have to teach them how to be a champion. “The last one is how to handle being a champion, and that’s the stage we’ve got to go through this year. Everybody’s going to come at you. You’ve got to be on every night. You can’t play down to your competition. If a team is better, you’ve got to play even better.” The Lady Apaches made the Class 4A statechampionship game in 2012 but lost to Nashville. “We’ve made the state tournament eight years in a row, and [in 2012], they understood what it was like to be on that big stage,” Jones said. “Last year, we had to go through Bauxite and Gravette, both very talented teams. But we had played so many good teams through the year, they were battle-tested. “And most of our girls played basketball, too, and they lost in the basketball [state] finals last year. That motivated them to finish it, to get over the hump. “Ain’t nothing like winning. It’s a good feeling, and it spreads all throughout our school.” Back to lead Pottsville are five senior starters — all-state pitcher/shortstop Aspen Campbell, MVP of the state championship game as a junior as she put up a 20-1 record with a .62 ERA; allstate center fielder Skylar Campbell, Aspen’s twin, who hit .441 as a junior; all-conference shortstop/ outfielder Kira Harrell; outfielder Hannah Marie Savage and infielder/outfielder Sydney Flippo. “This senior class has won the most games in a four-year span than any other senior class we have had,” Jones said. “They’re a special group.” Other returning starters include all-conference juniors Sophia Hampton at third base and Kayli Pennington at first; and sophomore second baseman Abbie Cain, whom Jones said set the state records for hits as a freshman with 69. Cain is Pottsville’s best hitter for average after batting .545 as a freshman. Freshman Sadie Saul is the Lady Apaches’ best power hitter. Aspen Campbell gets the nod for best speed and best arm; she shares the best-pitcher category with sophomore Shannon Lasey. “Aspen is so talented, and Lasey is really talented as well,” Jones said. “It’s a good problem when you’ve got two really good pitchers.” Jones said he expects six Lady Apaches to play collegiately. The Campbells are undecided, but Saul has committed to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Cain and Lasey to Arkansas Tech in Russellville and Hampton to Louisiana-Monroe. Team strengths, Jones said, will be speed and athleticism. Despite all the positives, however, the Lady Apaches won’t have much time to jell. At press time, eight players were still playing basketball for the Lady Apaches, 25-6 heading into the state tournament. Pottsville will play in combined conference 3A/4A District 6 with Atkins, Clinton, Dardanelle, Dover, Lamar, Perryville and Two Rivers. To advance to the postseason, the Lady Apaches must go through the 4A-4, which also includes Booneville, Dardanelle, Dover, Ozark, Waldron and West Fork. The top four teams from the 4A-4 District Tournament will move on to the Class 4A North Regional. Pottsville will be the favorite to win its sixth consecutive district championship, Jones said. “But they’re all capable,” he said. “Booneville had a good pitcher last year. Ozark is always good and competitive.” Last year, Pottsville was the only conference team to advance to the Class 4A State Tournament. The Lady Apaches, the third seed from the North Regional after falling to Gravette in the regional semifinals, knocked off Trumann, 8-0; Bauxite in the quarterfinals, 2-1; Gravette in the semifinals, 4-0; and Nashville in the championship, 11-3. Avenging the loss to Gravette was sweet, and getting revenge for Pottsville’s 2012 state-final loss to Nashville was big. “It was a good ride,” Jones said. “It’s unbelievable to win 33 games. Thirty-one was our previous best. We always set goals — conference, district, regional championships — but those wins were important, too. “Seven or eight of them were without six or seven of our starters. That’s a tribute to how good our girls are. They are so talented, and so is the second group. They push each other every day. Thirty-three wins — what an accomplishment.” Games to watch this spring, Jones said, will include Sheridan, Bauxite and Greenbrier. Sheridan is the defending Class 6A state champion, Greenbrier reached the semifinals of the Class 5A State Tournament, and Bauxite finished in the Class 4A state quarterfinals. “It should be an exciting year,” he said. “Our kids will have to learn how to handle being a champion and play every game as hard as they can.” Heading into his final season — he is retiring from coaching softball at the end of the year in order to be able to watch his son play baseball — Jones is 259-67.