Opportunities await lady mustangs in summer games

ANDERSON — A full schedule of summer softball games awaits the McDonald County Lady Mustangs. And while some of the team’s players will miss the action while competing nationally on a travel team, these games will give others plenty of chances to gain valuable experience on the diamond.

Heath Alumbaugh, who is entering his third year as head coach of the Lady Mustangs, said he can’t begrudge players who won’t be able to play in these games because of the quality of games in which they will be playing on a national level.

“It’s kind of hard to match the reps they’re getting at the level they’re getting them on,” he said.

But in their absence, Alumbaugh said other players will get their chance to improve their game.

“To me, it’s kind of a cool environment because some of those kids who aren’t there just yet skill-wise get more coaching than they might normally get,” he said. “They get first-team reps in front of all four of us coaches, which is huge for their development. And honestly, I believe that’s why we’ve had the success of developing players throughout our program.”

This pattern is reaping rewards for the Lady Mustangs, who have won two conference titles and three district championships in the last seven years.

McDonald County played for conference and district titles in each of the last two years, with Alumbaugh as the head coach.

This year’s senior class graduated with an overall record of 88-17 and, currently, there are five Lady Mustangs playing collegiate softball.

“I think that’s one of the great things about how it works out for us and one of the things that lead us to be able to develop players as we do,” he said of the summer routine.

“Those girls know this is their chance to shine and take advantage of some playing time. I think we’ve had great success with that over the seven years I’ve been in the softball program. That’s kind of how we’ve always done it. And it seems like every year we find a kid or two that maybe wasn’t necessarily on our radar as far as a varsity level kid goes and they come through and, by the end of the fall, they’re contributing at the varsity level.”

Alumbaugh said, while the baseball team is playing summer showcases in front of college coaches, there won’t be as many coaches coming to watch the softball team’s games this summer because they have the opportunity to see the high school’s regular-season games in the fall.

“The difference is that most college softball teams aren’t playing a full schedule in the fall, so we get a lot more college coaches out for our high school season in the fall,” he said.

The Lady Mustangs will play doubleheaders on three Wednesday nights in June. They will also attend a team camp in Branson on June 23 where they will play five games in one day.

The Wednesday night games — June 8 at home, June 15 at Fairland, Okla., and June 29 at Mount Vernon — will consist of either two five-inning games or a sevenand a five-inning game.