Rockmart looking to build off successful 2016 season with new plan

Every August brings the start of a fresh season for local softball teams, whether they wear the home colors of the Rockmart Lady Yellow Jackets or any others.

Yet Rockmart head coach Steve Luke said his group of girls - which could total as high as 16 dressing on the varsity squad for this season - wants to see further improvement from the team.

There's only a few more rungs of the ladder for Rockmart to climb at this point.

Rockmart ended the 2016 season late last October with a 32-4 record - with losses blemishing their record during the regular season against only Chattooga and Cedartown, then only two more losses during the Class AA playoffs.

A region championships, Cambree Stanley and Emily Lovelace named Rome News-Tribunes's co-players of the year for 2016 and those two players also playing on the national stage were among the honors lauded on the team over the past year.

Yet with a 0-0 record to open play against Cedartown at home on Tuesday after press time and a chance to see what his talent will do against solid pitching, Luke has a tall challenge ahead of him. What is he to do with all his players? "We've been blessed to have a lot of talent in Rockmart over the years, but we've never had this many girls who can all play well at the same time," Luke said. "Anyone of our girls can play at any moment and in any situation they might be facing. So it's going to be extremely difficult this year figuring out what's going to work best."

Part of that struggle for Luke will be in figuring out how different combinations of players will work against opponents depending on what conditions his team is facing on the field.

He said that some combination of teammates might make for a faster group on the field and thus tougher to get out on the bases and easier to score off base hits and walks. Others might work better at slugging it out at the plate to earn runs and thus wins.

Maybe it'll take a combination of both. Right now, Luke isn't sure how that particular piece of the puzzle will work out.

But he's confident of one thing: his team understands that this game plan is a work in progress.

"The girls have bought into the idea already that if they aren't in a game at the moment, they might be in at any moment, or the next game," he said. "I think that part of the equation has already worked itself out. It's going to be how to use everyone's talent in the right way when we get on the field against other teams that I see as the real problem."

One area Luke said he is confident that he won't have a problem is in leadership on the field. He said he has five different pitchers who have developed during last year and in the off-season to improve, plus a core group of seniors and juniors who look to build upon last year's successes and potentially make it all the way to the final round of the Class AA tournament later in the fall in Columbus. However, that's still a long way off. The Lady Jackets for now had their opener at home against Cedartown to focus their efforts on first, and are getting right into the regular season schedule starting Thursday.

They have their coming tests against Coosa and Dade County to consider as well. Dade County got knocked out by the Lady Jackets during the championship rounds in 2016's playoffs in Columbus before Vidalia finally ended the Lady Jackets' run last year in the quarterfinals.

Rockmart's first tournament of the season comes on the weekend of Aug. 18, when they head to Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe in Catoosa County to play, with opponents and times to be announced.