With excitement building within the program and new team first culture quickly being built this offseason, Owensboro is looking to turn things around this season and be a force in the 9th District and 3rd Region.
The Lady Devils are coming off of a rough season, finishing the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 11-20 while having their season ended at the hands of Daviess County in the first round of the 9th District Tournament. Owensboro has high hopes for the upcoming year though, especially with eight of the team’s nine starters from last season returning to the club.
This includes the Lady Devils main pitcher from a year ago in sophomore Kirsten Tindle (4.87 ERA, .258 batting average), as she will most likely take on more responsibilities in the circle with Brooklyn Keller being the lone senior that graduated after last season. Owensboro will also return three players that hit over .300 last year in sophomore Addison Hill (.361), junior Sophie Moorman (.354), junior Emmi Connor (.333) and the team’s RBIs leader in sophomore Ellington Embry (22 RBIs).
They along with the rest of the returning starters will be joined by a number of newcomers, including players with limited varsity experience and a new transfer in former E-gals senior pitcher K’Asia Palmer.
“We have added a couple players from our JV team who have improved greatly since last season,” Head Coach Quincy Moorman said. “They have put in the work in the offseason, and it shows. We have also added a couple transfers who we expect to contribute in a major way.”
But when asked about standout leaders and newcomers, Moorman elected not to mention any names. He said that there is a new fire under the program at OHS and that it starts with the team culture that they’ve worked to build this offseason, with the hopes of shaking things up in the 9th District and 3rd Region.
“We are focused on building a culture based on the values of hard work, dedication, commitment, respect,” Moorman said. “The girls have bought in and it has shown tremendously in our early season practice and workouts. We are further along than we were last season at this time by a long shot.”
Moorman said that they want to continue to grow and develop in order to compete at a higher level than Lady Devils softball ever has. The coaches have expectations of a more mature and disciplined approach with fewer mistakes than last season, as the players have grown and developed in all aspects of the game during the offseason and they expect it to be displayed with the product Owensboro puts on the field.
One step doing so includes shoring things up on the offensive side of things, as Moorman said that they will need to be a threat from top to bottom in their lineup to produce as many runs as possible.
“Team batting avg and on-base percentage,” Moorman said. “We had a couple players last season who finished in the top-10 or so in batting average in the district, but we had a quick decline behind them. To be successful, our team average has to be better.”
But the most important thing to success this season for Owensboro is the mental side of the game, as Moorman said that as long as they are able to put it all together and gel as a group that they can be a force to be reckoned with in 2023.
“Eliminate the mental mistakes and believe in our ability,” Moorman said. “The talent is there for the team to be successful, we just have to put it together as a group. It is a team sport, made up of individuals who have to play their role in order for the team to be successful.”
