Lady Raiders open softball season Friday

The Three Rivers College softball team will have a solid blend of new faces and returning talent when the Lady Raiders take the field this season.

“We are hoping to rely on our pitching and defense early in the season while the offense keeps developing,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said. “We have lots of new bats in the lineup. We will have a few growing pains, but the potential and effort is there.”

Leading the returnees are sophomore hurler Emma Crabb, who went 20-10 last spring, striking out 308 batters in 209 innings with an earned-run average of 2.14 and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.038. She completed 26 of her 27 starts and also saved five games out of the bullpen.

She will be joined on the pitching staff by freshman Erica Ross, a Canadian from the Edmonton area who Null has slotted as the team's No. 2 starter. Null also expects fellow freshmen Avery Graham (Farmington) and Bella Harville (Magnet Cove, Arkansas) also to see some time on the rubber.

The Lady Raiders also return a few familiar faces in the field and at the plate. Abi Jorgensen is back in the outfield after batting. 298 last spring with an OPS of .880 and nine stolen bases in 35 games, while infielder and Poplar Bluff High School graduate Clara Rahlmann is also back after hitting .283 last spring in 41 games and also stealing nine bases.

Wriley Taylor also returns after batting .292 in limited duty behind the plate while homering and driving in five runs in just 24 at-bats. Infielder Tori Stinnett returns after hitting two home runs in 75 at-bats last season, while infielders Madelyn Hefner, Emily Graves, Taylor Reed and Charly Johnson and outfielders Haley Payne and Olivia Crabb are also back.

They will be joined by a talented freshman class which includes shortstop Jayce Jarvis (Farmington), catcher Layla Pasley (Clarksville, Arkansas), designated player Madison Wooldridge (Brookland, Arkansas), second baseman Jayden Tucker (Farmington) and first baseman Shelby Bowling (also Farmington).

The Lady Raiders were slated to open their season last weekend, but the games were canceled because of the weather. Three Rivers now is slated to open its season Friday at the Juco Extravaganza in Oxford, Alabama against Central Alabama and Volunteer State out of Tennessee. That tournament runs through Sunday and also will feature a Saturday matchup against Snead State.

The Lady Raiders' first home games are slated for Wednesday against Shawnee, followed by a trip to the Branson Shootout next Friday and next Saturday against a trio of Oklahoma schools — Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Murray State and Eastern Oklahoma State.

“Staying healthy will be a big key with our pitching staff as we will rely on them quite a bit early,” Null said. “But it is shaping up to be a great spring and I can’t wait to get started.”