Hilco Real Estate 6-2024

Lady Raiders blessed with experienced roster

by | Jan 26, 2023 | Sports

Last season the Lady Raiders softball team was on the verge of a postseason berth by the end of the regular season.

In a one-game, winner-take-all game to try and reach the playoffs, Wylie East fell short against Lovejoy and saw their season come to a disappointing end. For head coach Demi McNulty said it put a chip on the team’s shoulder for this offseason.

“I think we discussed it during the fall of what we expect to accomplish heading into this season,” McNulty said. “We all agreed that we expect to surpass what we did last season, even for our first year in 6A. We worked hard this offseason and we’re committed all year to accomplishing that goal.”

As the team rounds into shape and concludes their tryouts, Wylie East said the key to this season and their new-look district is taking every game seriously and approaching every game with the same intensity.

“We need to treat every single day as a gameday,” McNulty said. “We need to practice how we want to play. When we needed a strong finish, I think we coasted it a little bit and I think they all learned from those moments and treat every game like it’s a championship game. I’m excited to see what they learned and putting all this into motion this year.”

Moving into the 2023 season, Wylie East returns several key players as it looks to make the playoffs. One of those is Presleigh Duff, the team’s ace pitcher from last season. She was a workhorse last season for the Lady Raiders, striking out 159 batters in 143 innings in 2022. While she took on that huge burden for the team, Wylie East’s next-highest pitcher had just 31 innings on the season, something McNulty wants to balance more this season.

“Presleigh came back from the summer with a different look about her approach to the game,” McNulty said. “She’s practiced and prepared a lot and she looks a lot stronger than ever before. She decided she didn’t want to go play college softball, so she was just doing it for herself and doing it even more for the school and her teammates. Hopefully, we don’t ask her to do as much this season. I plan to work in more players into the staff this year, but I also don’t want to fix a working machine.”

For the full story and additional sports coverage, subscribe to our newspaper here.

For additional sports pictures, see here.

Hilco Real Estate 6-2024

0 Comments

NTMWD Plant Smart 2024

Related News

Rains push softball youth camp indoors

Rains push softball youth camp indoors

Coach Kristin Johnson demonstrates different ways to field a ball to young campers. While rain was an obstacle for last week’s youth softball camp, the kids got plenty of work thanks to the indoor facility. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) While storms in...

read more
Rain or shine, East holds football youth camp

Rain or shine, East holds football youth camp

Coach David Cazabat calls out instruction as the football campers shuffle through a drill. Wylie East had a terrific turnout at last week’s youth football camp. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) The Wylie East football program put on their annual youth...

read more
Wylie sees plenty of faces, fun at youth football camp

Wylie sees plenty of faces, fun at youth football camp

Richard Hellewell and Carter Tadlock compete in an obstacle course during Wylie’s youth camp last week. To keep things fun and competitive, the kids all took part in the course that involved hurdles, throwing a ball into designated pockets in the net and a push sled....

read more
Wylie hosts young soccer players for camp

Wylie hosts young soccer players for camp

Storms can’t halt excitement for young soccer campers Despite the weather, plenty of future soccer stars got to come to Wylie’s girls camp last week. There, the Wylie coaches put them through various drills to help sharpen their game. (Austin Smith/The Wylie...

read more
Raiders hold youth camps as summer kicks off

Raiders hold youth camps as summer kicks off

Coach Heath Andrews demonstrates a drill during last week’s youth baseball camp. Coach Andrews had to get creative with after weather forced portions of the camp indoors last week. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) While the kids are officially out for...

read more
Gilberts’ late kick leaves spring game in 10-10 tie

Gilberts’ late kick leaves spring game in 10-10 tie

Martaveion Sanders (2) nearly comes up with the interception in Wylie’s spring game last Wednesday, May 15. Sanders was one of several players to play on both sides of the ball, something Pirates fans could see next fall (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) The...

read more
Wylie East duo shines in TASCO All-Star Game

Wylie East duo shines in TASCO All-Star Game

Wylie East’s Bryn Geppert (left) and Amaya Dawkins (right) were each selected to compete in the TASCO Senior Showcase last week in San Antonio. The pair were tremendous for Coach Kody Christensen (center) during their high school careers. (Courtesy Photo) (More...

read more
Lady Pirates wrap up strong spring with title

Lady Pirates wrap up strong spring with title

The Wylie Lady Pirates won last Saturday’s Xtreme League tournament to cap their spring work. The girls bested Highland Park in the final game for the title. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) The Wylie volleyball girls capped their spring work in the Xtreme...

read more
Pirates’ doubles teams take part in regionals

Pirates’ doubles teams take part in regionals

Ellie Smith and her mixed doubles partner, Jonathan Fain, took part in last week's regional tournament in Waco. They were one of three doubles teams from Wylie to qualify for the event. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) The Wylie tennis team sent six Pirates...

read more
Raiders’ tennis players compete in Region II tourney

Raiders’ tennis players compete in Region II tourney

Wyatt Kelley got an opening-round win at last week’s regional tournament in Waco. He was Wylie East’s lone athlete to advance to the regional quarterfinals. (Austin Smith/The Wylie News) (More Photos) Six of Wylie East’s tennis players made the trip to the Waco...

read more
Order photos