By Jason Nieunwenhuis
Sports Writer
The Piedmont Lady Wildcats quest for a fourth straight State Championships starts next week with the 2024 home opener at F&M Bank Stadium at 7:30 Tuesday night. Veteran head coach Keith Coleman has his team ready for what is sure to be a challenging season ahead.
They start fast with a trip to Pryor for the East/West showdown on Monday, then Stillwater on Tuesday and a trip to visit the always scrappy Carl Albert Titans on Thursday to cap off a tough first week.
“We always play as tough of competition as we can,” Coleman said. “We want to get better every time we hit the field and you have to play great competition to get better.”
The 2024 ‘Cats will look a little different in the circle, but senior Addison Underwood is up for the challenge of taking on a bigger role.
“I am ready,” she said, “there is going to be a lot of pressure on all of us, but coach Coleman has done a great job putting me and the rest of the team in some pressure-packed situations to make sure we know how to handle it.”
Underwood, who has an excellent rise ball and tough screwball is known as a “power pitcher.” Last year in her 70 innings pitched, she logged 96 strikeouts with a 1.40 ERA and an impressive 14-1 record. Senior Cameron Kimball will also see plenty of time in the circle after posting 30 strikeouts and a 1.61 ERA in 21.2 Innings pitched last fall.
Providing offense for the ‘Cats will be seniors Taybor Moss and Addison Cassady. Moss leads the team from behind the plate and is excited to get the season started.
“I can’t wait, we have been working hard and the coaches have confidence in us. I just want to try and lead by example,” she said.
Moss hit seven home runs and batted .476 last year and was often pitched around or intentionally walked, but still managed 50 hits with 37 runs driven in.
She certainly won’t be the only one providing pop in the lineup. Cassady, a shortstop, hit .400 in 2023 had 10 doubles, four triples and 14 stolen bases.
There is plenty of experience all around the diamond, in addition to Moss and Cassady other returning starters include Catie Meyer at second base, Ashlyn Emmert at first and Kaylie Rocco who will continue to patrol the outfield for a fourth straight year.
“This is going to be a different year. Every team is different, we just have to go out and execute – If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance to be in every game,” Coleman said.
His teams have found a way to execute lately with four of the last five 5A state championship trophies finding a home in Piedmont. With some good luck and great execution, the Lady “Cats will put themselves in position for a fourth straight dogpile at Devon Park in a couple months.
