By Brannon King / For the FCT

The Russellville High School varsity softball team has been busy preparing for the upcoming 2018 season, and the young group is eager to get onto the diamond in game action.

Entering her second year as head coach of the Golden Tigers, Kathryn Montgomery has a team that gained valuable experience last season. She said her girls hope to make a deep run in the postseason tournament.

“We’re very excited, and I know the girls are ready,” Montgomery said after practice on Monday.  “There comes a point in the preseason that you think, ‘How many more times can we practice before we have a game?’ That’s kind of where we all are. We’re all ready to get out there and see exactly what we’re going to be made of this year and what our potential is.”

One would have to look no further than the pitching circle to see where a lot of the potential rests with this squad. RHS has three pitchers with varsity game experience returning, and that looks to be one of the strengths of the team.  Senior Emma Whitfield, junior and West Florida commit Megan Warhurst and sophomore Krista Sikes will all look to shut down the bats of Russellville opponents. The trio is a good mix of two righthanders and a lefty in Warhurst. The group possesses good velocity on their pitches and the ability to change speeds and locations.

Montgomery is still putting the puzzle pieces of the infield and outfield together to make the team the best it can be. Starting catcher Madison Murray will miss the season because of a knee injury suffered during basketball season. When her replacement for this year is decided, the other infield and outfield spots should fall into place.

The team has many versatile options for playing in the field, with Sydney Burcham, Alivia Clemmons, Autumn Logan, Karlie Moore and AJ Taylor all coming back this year after seeing a lot of playing time on the varsity this past season. Jasmine Galloway, Johnna Oliver, Makala O’Neal and Lauren Rogers will all be looking to make a big impact this season as well.

The outfield should be plenty fast and will have good throwing arms.

The schedule should be a good challenge and will serve to prepare the girls for the end-of-the-season tournaments. RHS will remain in Class 5A and will share an area with Lawrence County, Brooks and East Limestone.

Russellville will open the varsity season with a trip to Florence to take on the Falcons Feb. 27. A number of tournaments highlight the slate in 2018 for Russellville, including their own RHS Spring Frenzy scheduled for March 9-10.

Other regular season varsity tournaments include trips to Prattville, Sparkman, Bob Jones, Ardmore and Florence.

The Russellville team has been putting in the hard work necessary to win, and the Lady Golden Tigers hope it all pays off with a trip to the state tournament in Montgomery at the end of the season.

Russellville Varsity Softball Roster

No. 00  Karlie Moore

No. 1    Madison Murray

No. 5    Sydney Burcham

No. 12  Johnna Grace Oliver

No. 13  Alivia Clemmons

No. 14  Krista Sikes

No. 16  Megan Warhurst

No. 21  Jasmine Galloway

No. 22  AJ Taylor

No. 24  Emma Whitfield

No. 31  Lauren Rogers

No. 33  Makala O’Neal

No. 34  Autumn Logan