Published: June 02, 2009 11:32 pm      

Bright future for Lady Bulldogs

LeFlore named 21-2A Newcomer of Year; Pavelock and Salinas earn first-team spots

The New Waverly softball team underwent quite a transformation this spring. With a young group of players, the Lady Bulldogs made some long strides as they finished fifth in the District 21-2A race and just missed out on the Class 2A playoffs.

“I wish we could fast-forward to next season,” New Waverly coach Stacy Hill said Tuesday. “The girls are really pumped up after we did so well and they’re ready to get going again.”

After winning just three games total and one district contest in ’08, the Lady Bulldogs turned things around in a hurry. New Waverly improved by eight victories and went 6-9 in district, missing the playoffs by three games.

Freshman pitcher Brianna LeFlore was part of the reason that the Lady Bulldogs enjoyed more success in ’09. LeFlore started all 22 games in the circle and was named the District 21-2A Newcomer of the Year, along with being selected to the first team.

“In our district games, she had over 64 strikeouts and just 18 walks,” Hill said of her rookie righthander. “When you have a pitcher that doesn’t give away too many free bases like that, then you’re in pretty good shape.

“She has that pitcher’s mentality. She focused on every batter and the girls were really willing to back her up.”

Freshman catcher Kali Pavelock and junior shortstop Alena Salinas were also tabbed as first-team selections.

“Bri and Kali were a great pitcher-catcher duo for us,” Hill said. “They’ve been playing together since before they even got to high school. Softball is their thing. A lot of times, those two would stay after practice and work some more. That was always encouraging to see.”

Rounding out the second team for New Waverly was sophomore first baseman Alicia Ziober, senior second baseman Amber Helmick and sophomore third baseman Lorene Pullido.

“I was really proud of all the girls,” Hill said. “They worked really hard. A lot of them hadn’t played softball before. After going through a season, they’ve definitely caught the softball bug now.”

The Lady Bulldogs will lose Helmick, but they’ll have plenty to look forward to in the coming seasons.

“Leadership is there with Kali, Bri and Alena,” Hill said. “We should be OK and do a lot better next year.

“We’ve just got to work on being mentally prepared. We have to have that mentality of fighting until the end and being able to come from behind in games.

“In the offseason, we’ll be working on drills that emphasize that, and hopefully we can be even more successful.”