A new era begins for the Marshalltown Community College Softball team on Friday as the Tigers begin their 2016 campaign under first-year head coach Garland Shirley. MCC heads to Rochester, MN for the Early Bird Tournament.
After winning a program-best 33 games in 2014, the softball team struggled in 2015 with a 3-44 record on the diamond. Bringing in plenty of experience and a revamped roster that features a wealth of freshman along with key returners, Shirley looks to provide a new attitude for the upcoming season.
"This year is about changing and creating our expectations," Shirley exclaimed. "We want to lay the ground work for our program and create our own path for what is to come here at Marshalltown."
The 15 player roster, 10 freshman and five sophomores, provides plenty of depth across the field and up and down the batting order.
"The biggest thing for us is that our schedule allows us to find out a lot about ourselves before we get into conference play," Shirley stated in regards to the team's early season tournaments. Along with the team's two games at the Early Bird Tournament on Friday night, MCC will travel to Clermont, FL during Spring Break for a 13-game slate in a seven day period. The Tigers open up play in the Sunshine State on March 11 and conclude the trip on March 17.
"Every coach wants to put their team in a situation where they learn how to react in certain scenarios. We have the schedule that allows us to do that this year. Our team will learn as much from how they play as they will from their own coaching staff."
On the field, four players- Sarah Ghee (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle), Raini Hilmer (Dyart, IA/Union), Kari Smith (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown), and Lauren Wolfe (Miles City, MT/Custer County) return for the Tigers in 2016.
"The good thing about the season the team had last year," Shirley added, "is that you can see a true desire for these sophomores to change the program this year. They're going to bring the fire this year. They have something to prove. These four players want the atmosphere here to change and they'll be the driving force behind our mentality."
Along with the sophomore class, Shirley sees plenty of talent with the newcomers- nine freshmen and one sophomore transfer in Taylor Anderson (San Antonio, TX/Churchill).
"The freshmen are hungry, they're happy to be here but ready to work hard. We've got some players that can play multiple positions at any given time. One of the big things for us is to have a pitching staff with four pitchers. That's huge. The younger players will provide plenty of depth and energy to our team this year."
With the first pitch of the year in sight for the Tigers, Shirley already sees a change from his team that displays a new mindset in the softball program at MCC. "We're here to establish ourselves as a team that can really compete."
The Tigers take on Madison College at 7:00 PM Friday night at the Rochester Sports Dome in Rochester, MN. MCC also takes on Rochester Community Technical College at 9:00 PM in the dome.
