Fall Sports Preview: Tiger Softball
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Worth County softball: front from left; Evalyn Gilland, Becca Smith, Brylee Rush, Kynah Steele, Brooklyn Richardson, Autumn Cousatte, Addie Gray; back; Sumer Riley, Rayleigh Smith, Kambree Briner, Kristen Tracy, Abbi Brown, Riley Ridge, Rylee Ruckman and Keira Hardy.
The Worth County Tigers come into the 2023 season with hopes of building off of what they accomplished last season. The Tigers won 12 games last season, the most since 2019 and the second-most since 2008. Worth County will do so while having to replace its top pitcher and hitter from last season.
“I’m pretty excited about this group of girls, I think we’ve got a good mix of different styles of leadership with this senior group,” Worth County coach Tiffany Bliley said. “We’ve got some that are doers and we’ve got some that are sayers. We’ve got a good mix of leaders and they’ve all been really good to work with this season. They’ve done a good job of leading the underclassmen.”
Ali Brown led the Tigers on the mound last season, throwing 77 innings and leading the team with eight wins and a 1.98 ERA. Second in innings pitched was now senior Brooklyn Richardson. Richardson started nine games last season, finishing with a 4-3 record and a team-high 73 strikeouts.
“I’ve been working so much more on my pitching than other things and I have pitched every day for the last few weeks and I’m just so excited for the season,” Richardson said.
Bliley added that Richardson has worked hard on her pitches this offseason but also credited Richardson for the role she has taken as a leader on the team.
On the offensive side, the Tigers will have to fill the vacancy left by Hailey Adwell. Adwell led the team with 33 hits and a .458 batting average.
The return of Kynah Steele, Autumn Cousatte and Richardson will help lessen the blow of losing Adwell. Steele was second on the team in both hits (32) and batting average (.432) last year.
“I spent the offseason getting in the cages and putting in cuts,” Steele said. “I’m very excited because I think we can achieve all of the goals we set for ourselves.”
Cousatte was third on the team with 28 hits and a .364 batting average last season. The Worth County catcher says that having Steele and Richardson around her in the lineup makes her life a little easier.
“It helps me to relax a little more when I’m up to bat because I know I have people around me that have my back and can pick me up,” Cousatte said.
Richardson wasn’t far behind her catcher last season, finishing the year with 25 hits and a .329 batting average. Richardson was third on the team with 16 RBI and played a large role on the bases, leading the team with 29 runs scored and was second on the team with 15 stolen bases.
“I feel like our lineup can be really good and balanced throughout,” Richardson said. “For me, I just hope to have fewer strikeouts.”
Bliley is also excited to see some of those players from last season have larger roles this year. Sophomore Rylee Ruckman had seven hits in 27 at-bats last season and sophomore Riley Ridge finished the season with a .280 batting average in her 25 at-bats.
The Tigers begin their season this weekend in the Bill Hill Memorial Softball Tournament in Albany. Worth County will then open the regular season on Monday at East Harrison before traveling to North Andrew on Tuesday for their first conference game of the year.
Worth County’s first home game of the season comes on Sept. 5 when they host the Stanberry Bulldogs. The Tigers will host North Harrison on Sept. 7 before entering the King City Tournament on Sept. 9.
“I think our main goal this year is to compete in every game and throughout the summer, I think we’ve taken steps to be able to do that,” Bliley said. “We want to continue to compete and be in those big games. We want to win anything that we can—but the big thing is being able to compete in every single game.”
