Holcomb softball finding a new identity after consecutive state tournament runs

HOLCOMB – While all eyes are fixed on a championship trophy in May, the Holcomb softball team finds itself in search of a new identity which will include many new faces on the field after graduating an enormous amount of talent the last two years.

The Hornets have taken a trip to Springfield to compete in the MSHSAA State Tournament in both of the last two spring softball seasons. The team brought home a third place trophy last year and a second place trophy in 2021.

They've won at least 20 games every season that the now-seniors have been on the field.

The senior leadership on the field this year is limited, however, with a roster composed of two seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and nine freshmen.

Senior first baseman Libbey Callis will unquestionably have the task alongside head coach Matt Casper of setting the standard for the team, despite Callis herself only starting for the Hornets for the first time last year.

“We lost four All-State players last year, so I'm having to fill pretty big shoes if we want to get back to where we were,” Callis said. “I had to fill in shoes just as we're going to have to this year. I had to fill Hannah Burk's shoes, and so here I am first baseman. It's all a cycle, but it's not an easy task.”

Callis has been on the team since she was a freshman, but her her personal goals for her senior season reflect the challenges of a young player fighting to earn their worth.

Holcomb senior first baseman Libbey Callis makes a catch during practice Tuesday, March 14, 2023.Photo by Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“My main goal this year is to do my personal best,” Callis said. “Last year I remember just being scared the whole season that I was going to drop the ball and that people would get upset at me. This year I just want to be more relaxed and keep improving.”

The Hornets' five juniors will have higher expectations this season as well, perhaps earlier than anticipated.

One such junior, Kaetlyn Danley, has been a starter on the team since she was a freshman. She's seen the team evolve, and she's seen the cyclical nature of college-caliber teammates move on up.

“They were a lot of our team,” Danley said. “They did a lot of good things for us, but I do think that different people will step up and do what they need to do. I do think we'll be successful again this year.”

“I just want our team to be successful and keep doing better than we did the year before, and really just make sure that we go further as a team,” she continued.

Danley played second base her freshman and sophomore years, and now she'll transition to man third base and play shortstop. Maybe even catcher, she said. Ultimately, “wherever they need me.”

“I think it's going good so far, but there are still a lot of people that are still getting the hang of how it is,” Danley said. “It's a big change. But practice is going good and we're definitely getting better as we go on.”

Holcomb junior Kaetlyn Danley practices with the team from third base Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Photo by Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Junior shortstop Maleigh Lemings has been on the field since she was a freshman as well. Many of her sentiments echoed those of her teammates, and while she's focused on continuing to grow as an athlete, she hopes that in her last two seasons of high school softball she can work on “getting prepared for the next level.”

“It felt phenomenal,” Lemings recollected from the teams' consecutive Final Four appearances. “We're obviously going to try to get back there this year. The past two years we had a lot of girls who played travel too, so having a big group who played travel ball too for so long made us good.”

Lemings agreed that the team lost some “major components,” but she's confident that the new crop of underclassmen will be able to step into a position to help the team hang a few more banners.

In Coach Casper's fourth year leading the team, most of the players know exactly what his expectations are for his players, and the underclassmen will soon know as well.

“I think consistency as far as everything goes has been huge,” Casper said. “The girls have dedicated themselves to not only playing here but working on their own too. A lot of them play travel ball too, but they know that they're going to come out here and put in work day in and day out.”

Casper's goal is not to “replace those players” that graduated, but to instead “fill those roles with developing players.”

With the team's recent success and the buzz built around the softball program, the plethora of underclassmen have every incentive to do so.

“Fundamentally, we're not too bad,” Casper said. “We have some areas that we can get better in, but we've seen a lot of positives early. We've had days where we look good and some days when we don't. And that's going to happen when you're young early in the season. We're just going to try to iron all that out early in the season.”

One crucial piece of the puzzle that will sorely be missed this year is Alyssa Brown, the Hornets' former pitcher who now plays for Mineral Area College. She was last year's Semoball Awards Softball Player of the Year and her absence is still an area of contention in practice.

“That's going to be a challenge for us,” Casper said. “We've got four or five girls who are splitting time in practice, but we've not decided on who will be the go-to yet. They're young and developing, so we're keeping an eye on that.”

While the goal remains the same for an ever-evolving roster, the team's outlook remains uncertain, according to Casper.

“It really all depends,” he said. “A lot of things have to go right for you to go that far. You've got to have dedication and talent, but you have to have the ball bounce your way here and there. There are a lot of good teams in the area, and it's not going to be easy. With the work that we're putting in now, they know the expectations. Will we get there? We never know, but that's what we work for.”

Holcomb will travel to Jonesboro Friday to open their season at the Bearcat Blast in a competition of 82 games between 50 teams.

“It's always a tough tournament,” Casper said. “In the last two years we've only won one game over there out of six. But that's good to go in and see where you stack up and be able to say 'Hey, we need to work.' It's a good wake up call for everybody.”