The Floydada Lady Winds softball team practice at Annie Taylor Park on Monday, January 31, 2022 (Nick Long/FCR)
FLOYDADA – The Floydada Lady Winds enjoyed a banner season in 2021 with a 25-2-1 season record that earned them a District 4-2A Championship and a three round journey in the UIL State Playoffs.
Armando Morales will begin his 13th campaign as the Floydada softball coach and he has a lot of optimism about the upcoming season, “we have virtually the same team from last season except for first baseman Alyssa Obregon (graduated) and Alyssa Hinson who was in the right field rotation (she has moved away). The rest of team is back and has valuable experience.”
“We have some openings for the girls to compete for especially in the outfield. With senior Clarissa Delafuente released from a 2021 knee injury in basketball, we may be relocating some people. Clarissa has a lot of speed and range in her fielding. She is a very good shortstop. Overall team speed will be one of team strengths again and allows us to be aggressive,” Morales explained.
“Pitching should be a strong strength again led by All-State hurler Erin Trevino. We used Delafuente and Carissa Fernandez in our first scrimmage against Estacado that we won 16-7. Analise Perez could see some time as she threw quite a few games in the summer. We might see more rotating of the pitchers this spring to get us ready for the playoffs,” Morales noted.
All-State outfielder Carissa Fernandez could be moved over to centerfield from leftfield, “I will play wherever Coach Morales needs me. I am just excited to get back on the field.”
Fernandez set a school record for 11-homeruns in a single season for Lady Winds softball as a freshman. She is a year older as a sophomore, and gained some valuable experience playing with the Floydada Diamond Dusters and the Oklahoma City Athletics in the summer. She will be chasing the school record of career homeruns in softball set by Kylie Ricketts with 16. Ricketts was also an outfielder and one of the key players when Floydada advanced to the Region Semi-Finals in 2019.
“We have some unfinished business. We want to advance further this season. We have a lot of good players returning, “explained senior second baseman Kailey Sanchez. Sanchez is a strong player in the middle of Floydada’s defense and she hoping to improve more in both hitting and base running.
“We have been lifting more weights in the offseason,” explained senior catcher Marissa Obregon. “I think the weights will help me in my throwing to the basepaths. I hope my experience of catching will help us improve even more on defense. I also think the weight lifting should help my hitting.”
Probable players for the Lady Winds:
Erin Trevino (senior) – pitcher
Marissa Obregon (senior) – catcher
Analise Perez (sophomore) – first base
Kailey Sanchez (senior) – second base
Celese Wickware (senior) – third base
Clarissa Delafuente (senior) – short stop
Carissa Fernandez (sophomore) – center field
Jazmin Coronado (senior), Tatum Glasscock (junior) – right field
Jaycee Caudle (Junior), Kirsten Pyle (freshman) – left field
Kaley Garza (junior) – designated player
Floydada has four more scrimmages remaining with Muleshoe, Lubbock Trinity Christian, Plainview and Amarillo Palo Duro. A scrimmage with Childress on Thursday (Feb. 3) was cancelled due to snow.
The Lady Winds will play their season opener by hosting Trinity Christian on Monday, February 14. It is uncertain at this time if the game will be held at Annie Taylor Park or the new Lady Winds softball field on Whirlwind Way.
