Lamar High School softball
Coming off a 10-13 season in 2021, the Lady Silver Foxes are led by Chris Weaver. Entering his fifth season, Coach Weaver is assisted by Joey Doriety, Carly Copeland, Tony McManus and Maddie Huneycutt. According to Weaver, these assistants have a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience to help guide Lamar in the upcoming season.
Gone are two players who were six-year starters. Emmy Copeland is playing collegiately at Southern Wesleyan and Heidi Anderson is at Florence-Darlington Technical College. Replacing these two will be crucial in the early part of the 2022 season.
This year’s squad will be junior and sophomore heavy with no seniors on the roster. Returning are juniors Kelly Anderson, Emily Cribb, Gracie Blackwell, Maddie Doriety, and Tatum Weaver. Dakota Melancon is also part of that mix having transferred into the school district since last season.
The sophomore class includes Hannah Amerson, Emily “MJ” Johnson, Lauren Godbold, and transfer Reagan Knotts. Freshman Abby McManus will be the workhorse on the mound and if the Lady Silver Foxes can manufacture runs and play solid defense, Weaver feels his young pitcher can keep them in games. Others in the mix for playing time are sophomores Bri White and Jalen Samuels along with freshman Harmony Daniels and 8th grader McKinley Windham.
Lamar will play in two tournaments early to help prepare them for a tough region. The Beat Cancer with a Bat tournament at Lugoff-Elgin is Feb. 25. The Pee Dee Pitch Off tournament is March 4-5 at the Freedom Florence complex.
— Don Gearhart