Young Holcomb softball team growing, finding success through adverse season

While the Holcomb softball team lost its first district championship in three years, the 2023 season was about much more than that.

After opening with back-to-back losses, then going on to secure five-game and nine-game winning streaks, it’s difficult to call a 23-9 season a rebuilding year. And yet, the growth and dedication shown by the Hornets’ remarkably underclassmen-heavy roster was always working to the future of the program.

“Going into the season, we didn’t really know what to expect,” Holcomb softball coach Matt Casper said. “But we knew what to expect of ourselves, and that was to compete against whoever we were playing.”

“There were a lot of young ones coming in, and losing a big group of quality student-athletes, we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” he continued. “I think we found some success, and we found some girls who really stepped up, especially some young ones. We grew this season, and had a successful one, but we just fell a little short at the end.”

On the backs of a single senior, five juniors, three sophomores and nine freshmen, Holcomb continued their tradition of success, just not as far into the postseason as hoped.

The Hornets’ season ended in the team’s fifth-consecutive district championship appearance, and after having won the previous three, the first-seeded Hornets were upset by second-seeded Risco 3-4.

Of their nine losses, six games came down to a deficit of four or fewer runs. The team won nine out of ten home games, the one loss being to rival Kennett, and went 7-5 at away games and 7-3 at neutral sites. They averaged a whopping 13.1 runs in each game this season while giving up just 5.5.

“We had three freshmen in the starting lineup – Ella Lemings, Ava Gurley, Katelynn Sweaney – those girls filled some big roles,” Casper said. “One pitching, one catching, and Ava played a little bit everywhere. Two of the top spots in the lineup is huge, especially when they come through, and they did.”

Casper explained that the freshmen “more than answered the call,” and as he looks toward another large group of upcoming freshmen, he hopes the same for them.

Holcomb graduate Libbey Callis makes a catch at first base during a game earlier this spring.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Libbey Callis is Holcomb’s sole graduating senior on the team, and she was a key piece of the Hornets’ lineup. Callis also earned All Class 1 District 1 honors this year.

“Libbey, as a senior, she really stepped up this year,” Casper said. “She improved her hitting, hit four home runs, and defensively she’s improved so much. From a girl who was sitting behind a lot of great players who have come through here, learned and paid her dues, and now she’s played first base for the last two years.”

Her teammate, Maleigh Lemings, was named Tri-County Conference Player of the Year after breaking two state records.

Lemings, a junior short stop, set two state records for the most RBIs in a season with a total of 71, as well as the most runs scored in a season with 69.

“Maleigh is probably one of the most talented athletes I’ve coached as far as what she does on the softball field,” Casper said. “They way she produced this year was second to none. She’s a special player, but she’ll be one of the first to tell you that she didn’t break those records by herself. It was impossible without without the rest of her teammates doing their job as well.”

In Casper’s fourth year coaching the team, his fifth year counting 2020 when the pandemic prevented the season from taking place, he’s no stranger to what it takes to be successful each year.

“The goal for next year is something that never changes for us,” Casper said. “We want to play to the best of our ability and put ourselves in a situation to win when it comes down to the end of the year. We want to compete at that level. We’ve had success in the past, and this year we saw that it’s not a given every year.”

“These girls know they’re going to have to work,” he continued. “The way this season ended, it’s going to make these girls hungrier for it next year.”