Lady Wolves Looking to Build Off Historic Season

WESSON - The Co-Lin Softball team had a 2022 season for the history books that feature many team firsts including earning the No. 1 ranking in DII Softball as well as winning the MACCC Tournament Championship for the first time in over a decade.

"Last year was definitely a season that everyone will remember for this program," said head coach Meleah Howard, who was also chosen as the MACCC Coach of the Year. "There were a ton of fun experiences that started in the fall and went all the way through the spring. It was an amazing season and one that I will never forget."

Coach Howard became the first person in Co-Lin history to win a state championship as both a player and a coach with the MACCC Tournament Championship win last season and just the second female head coach in the last 12 years to lead her team to that title in the MACCC.

Now the Lady Wolves are turning the page and focusing on the 2023 season ahead.

"The fall was really good for us, and we got to see all of our players at many different positions during those games," said Howard. "We do have a lot of newcomers and new faces on the field for us this year, so trying to get our freshman some experience and get them ready for the spring season was our focus during that time. We had several good outings during the fall, and I am very excited to see what this season holds for us."

The 2023 Lady Wolves roster features 21 players with 11 of those being sophomores (nine returning and two transfers) along with 10 incoming freshmen. The nine returning sophomores on the roster include outfielder Maggie West (Waynesboro), infielders Faith Kivett (Tallulah, La.), Maddie Weeks (Clinton), Julianna Frazier (Bogue Chitto), and Josie Meggs (Kosciusko), catcher/infielder Skyler Speights (Monticello), utility player Laurel Breland (Lake), pitcher/utility player Lila Blackburn (Red Bay, AL), and pitcher Belle West (Byram). The two transfer sophomores are pitcher Elena Thompson (Water Valley) who comes to Co-Lin after playing at Itawamba, and outfielder Lizzy Hollingsworth (Decatur) joins the Lady Wolves after playing at East Central. Weeks and Kivett are both coming off stellar freshmen seasons that saw them earn multiple postseason awards.

"We are very excited to be returning Belle West, who brings back a lot of experience for us from last season," stated Howard. "We are also bringing back our middle infielders from last year (Maddie Weeks and Faith Kivett) as well as our starting third baseman from last season (Josie Meggs) is huge for us. We are going to have a lot of familiar faces out on the field, but some news ones as well and that could be any of the girls on the roster."

Incoming freshman for the Lady Wolves includes infielders Zykeria Cole (Magee) and Leia Phillips (Philadelphia), outfielders Madison Moak (Brookhaven) and Kat Case (Monticello), catchers/infielders Abby Grace Richardson (Brookhaven) and Ellie Williamson (Jackson), first baseman Sara Grace Smith (Crystal Springs), pitcher Cara Biswell (Brandon), utility player Bailee Goodson (Brookhaven), and pitcher/utility player Laney Waguespack (Des Allemands, La.).

"We are really excited about this group because we have so much versatility and athleticism in our players this season," said Howard. "We have girls that can play multiple positions across the field, so it's really interesting to see how everything will turn out for us."

Coach Howard said she is also looking forward to the upcoming season and understands the pressure that comes with the success from last season.

"We have been talking with our girls every day that we will have a target on our back because we have been getting better and better each year," stated Howard. "That has also led to use bringing in really good and competitive players who do not like to lose and when you play like our players do then everyone wants to beat you. We have told the girls that we must work harder this season than we did last year because our success from last season just made the target on our backs grow larger."

The 2023 season will feature one big change for the Lady Wolves as the MACCC Conference Tournament will no longer be played and the winner of the regular season will be the MACCC Champions, but Coach Howard said that their approach will remain the same.

"We are going into every game to win it and that is what I have told our girls for every game," stated Howard. "We still have to maintain the mindset that we have to finish in the top eight or nine to make the Region 23 Tournament, but we still have to take it game by game."

"We are going to have to grind it out each and every game and push through to the end in order to get to where we want to be and play at the national tournament," added Howard.

The Lady Wolves season features three matchups with preseason ranked opponents including No. 4 Jones, No. 8 Northwest Mississippi, and No. 17 Parkland. The Lady Wolves will also play in two tournaments this year, once again competing in the Sun Chief Classic at Gulf Shores, Alabama on February 17-18 and playing in the Hinds JUCO Classic on February 25. The Lady Wolves open the season with a home contest against Baton Rouge on Sunday, February 5.