By Bobby Allen

SDN Sports Editor

New Lady Tigers softball coach Darren Pool wants his team to face some adversity.

And he wants it to happen before the playoffs start.

“Our pre-district schedule is tough. I’m not going to go 32-2 and get bounced in the first round,” Pool said. “We are going to be playing teams to prepare us.”

After going 32-2 last season and rolling through the district, the Lady Tigers were stunned in a one-game playoff by lightly-regarded Perryton.

Now, with a new coach and an entirely new infield, the Lady Tigers and their coach are ready to rebuild -- while still keeping their sights on the postseason and another district trophy.

Pool is in his third year coaching high school softball, coming here from Kermit. He graduated in 1997 from UT-Permian Basin in Odessa.

He said he has each player on the team write out their goals prior to the season, seal them up and not talk about them until the end of the season.

“I don’t ask what their goals are,” he said. “At the end of the season we will see what goals they had and if we met them.”

He said he also wants to foster a family atmosphere on the club.

“The team family is real important to me,” he said. “One heartbeat is the only way to get it done.”

The Lady Tigers open the season Friday in the Copperas Cove Tournament to start a grueling pre-district schedule that will see the Lady Tigers face a number of 5A and 4A schools.

“I want us to take some knocks right off the bat. You have to play up to get better,” Pool said.

And while the team lost five seniors from last year’s district championship team, the cupboard is not exactly bare for Pool as he begins to implement his system and philosophies.

Seniors Kelsi Johnson, Ashley Martinez and Missy Vasquez bring a wealth of experience from last season, with Martinez and Johnson anchoring the rotation and Vasquez moving back into the infield after playing outfield last season.

“There’s a good group out there. They are good athletes and they are hustling,” Pool stated. “I’d put these girls up against anyone -- that’s the confidence I have in them. I think they can play with anyone.”

Pool said he will use the Copperas Cove Tournament to determine what positions are solidified and which ones will remain in flux.

“This first tournament, I’m looking for wins, but also this early in the season I’m looking to find players who can play in certain spots,” he said.

He said Martinez would take the mound for the first game of the tournament.

Vasquez and Brianna Bernal are in the mix at both shortstop and third base, Johnson will handle the second base duties on the days she is not pitching, and Heather Zajicek will man the catcher spot.

Pool said first base remains an open position, with Martinez expected to see time there, as well as Ashley Luecke and Rachel Clanton.

Laura Clanton, Lindsey Morin, Paula Fritz and Shaela Thompson will play the outfield.

Pool said pitching remains the strength of the squad, with the hitting slowly catching up with each practice. Wednesday’s practice session was devoted almost exclusively to hitting.

Pool said a few girls would see time at both the varsity and JV levels, as the JV squad lacks depth in both position players and in the pitching rotation.

Only one player, Terann Ragland, is still in basketball, but Pool is content to get her whenever it may happen.

“It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we didn’t get her until mid-March,” Pool said, adding that many of the 27 players in the program are very young and somewhat inexperienced. “A lot of these kids it’s their first year playing, but we can build them how we want them to be.”

Even with the personnel turnover and a new coach, Pool expects the Lady Tigers to compete for the district title and for the team to secure a playoff spot.

“We’re going to be there -- I know I’ll have them prepared, and I know they will answer the call,” he said. “We just have to stay focused on one game at a time.”

The Lady Tigers open the Copperas Cove Tournament against Junction at 10:30 a.m.