A new season, a new coach, a new outlook.
The Fort Madison High School softball team is barreling full throttle into a new era with Kyle Doherty at the helm and Hall of Fame player Erica (Martinez) Darnell alongside as an assistant coach.
The Bloodhounds are off to a 3-3 start, including 2-0 in what looks to be a wide-open Southeast Conference race.
Doherty, who also coaches girls wrestling at Fort Madison, is embracing a new challenge on the softball diamond.
“I am looking forward to competing in the conference,” Doherty said. “Our conference is tough. I feel like if we can compete in our conference, we can be right there battling for the top of it.”
With the softball season overlapping the spring season by several weeks, Doherty said the biggest challenge early has been having enough girls at practice every day.
One of his first tasks is trying to find the right positions on the field and in the batting order now that he has a full lineup moving forward.
“Now that we have all of our girls back to softball, we can have a little more consistency in practice and start dialing in some stuff,” Doherty said. “We are still switching some kids around. We have some girls who can play one or two positions, so we have some opportunities to slide some kids in the lineup at different spots. Kylie Lumino, Brylie Lorence, Laci Gathers, Emma Snaadt and Jordyn Marshall are all flexible and can play other positions. That really helps.”
Lorence is off to a blazing start. She is hitting .550 with three doubles and two home runs and a team-high nine RBIs. She is splitting time between catcher and third base.
Marshall, who plays shortstop when she is not pitching, is hitting .391.
Ava Fuget a sophomore utility player who has been seeing time at second base, is hitting .353.
‘We have a lot of speed in our lineup, but we also have some power,” Doherty said. “We are still trying to move people into positions where they can be most productive.”
Eighth grader Lucia Darnell, Marshall and Snaadt have split time in the circle. Darnell has been the most consistent of late with a 3.75 ERA. All three are showing improvement each time they toe the rubber.
“Erica is doing a great job with our pitchers. Emma and Jordyn have improved a lot and Lucia has been fantastic,” Doherty said. “Lucia was definitely nervous for the first game against Davis County. But she came back and threw a heck of a game against Davenport North. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching our young pitchers develop.”
Fort Madison started the season atop the Southeast Conference standings, matching Washington and Fairfield with 2-0 records.
Doherty hopes to keep the Bloodhounds in contention to the end.
“Our numbers are low this year. We had a couple girls who played last year but didn’t come out this year,” Doherty said. “That hurts, but we’re moving forward with girls that want to be here. I think it’s going to be a fun summer.”