New-look EMCC Lady Lions set to open softball season by hosting Marion Military Institute
The new-look East Mississippi Community College softball team is set to open the 2020 season by playing host to Marion Military Institute during a scheduled Tuesday (Feb. 4) doubleheader on the Scooba campus. Tuesday’s first pitch is slated for 4 p.m. at the EMCC Softball Field.
SCOOBA – The new-look East Mississippi Community College softball team is set to open the 2020 season by playing host to Marion Military Institute during a scheduled Tuesday (Feb. 4) doubleheader on the Scooba campus. Tuesday's first pitch is slated for 4 p.m. at the EMCC Softball Field.
Second-year EMCC head softball coach Austin McNair is looking forward to the upcoming season as much as anyone on the heels of last year's transition season for the Lady Lions.
A proven winner during previous high school head coaching stints at Pontotoc and Philadelphia, McNair and his first EMCC softball edition forged through the 2019 season with an undermanned club that lacked depth at key positions. The outcome of the season resulted in countless hours on the recruiting trail that McNair is confident will be showcased on the field during the upcoming campaign.
"I am excited to see what's in store for this program and our first recruiting class this year," McNair said. "We have worked very hard and spent countless hours this past year recruiting some of the state's best softball talent to fit our program here at EMCC."
Along with 17 talented newcomers joining this year's freshman-laden EMCC softball team, the Lady Lions also bring back five returnees, including the MACJC All-State/North Division battery of pitcher Britney Bonney and catcher Mackenzie Dolan. Also back this season for the Lady Lions are Hope Thames (Nanih Waiya HS), Madelyn Wilkes (Noxapater) and Lilly Burton (Union).
Bonney's 2019 pitching statistics were misleading given the fact that she transferred to EMCC midseason after earning MAC All-State prep honors as a senior at Madison Central High School. Dolan, from Union, led last year's EMCC club in home runs (5), RBIs (38), doubles (7), total bases (53) and stolen bases (13) while hitting .305 on the season.
Despite nursing an injury as a freshman, Thames batted a team-leading .368 with 10 of her 21 hits going for extra bases. As the lone Lady Lion player to start all 33 games a year ago, Wilkes hit .317 with 12 extra-base hits and 24 RBIs.
"I am confident that our opponents as well as EMCC's loyal softball supporters will observe a new look and experience a different culture when the improved Lady Lions take the field this upcoming season. Our staff and these players continue to put in the hard work needed to reach the level of expectations that we have set for ourselves and this program," McNair continued.
Among the newcomers expected to contribute immediately for McNair and assistant coaches Kimmy Nicholson and Luke Walker will be middle infielder/pitcher KeraGrace Watts, who earned District MVP and all-metro honors at Northlake Christian High School in Mandeville, La. The Lady Lions also welcome the additions of in-state transfers Alexis Lawrence, a pitcher from Northwest Rankin High School via Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and Allison Brown, a valuable utility player out of Choctaw County High School by way of East Central CC.