With much more returning experience in the pitching circle, the Durant Lady Lions look to make a return to the Class 5A state tournament as the 2026 season opens next week at home facing Ardmore Monday and Atoka Tuesday.
Coach Jimmie Wyrick welcomes back five full time starters and one part-time starter from a year ago and has also added a former DHS standout to the coaching staff to help mold the pitching staff. Abi Gregory returns to the Lady Lions, where she was an All-State pitcher in 2021, in the coaching role after a solid college pitching career at USAO. She will be joined by another pair of former college players in Hailey Ledbetter and Madi Jones.
“I really like our staff,” Wyrick commented. “All of them have college experience and should bring a lot of knowledge to our program in all areas. They have done a great job so far and will be a tremendous asset to me with a relatively young squad again that has tremendous talent but just lacks experience on the high school level.
“We will be faster and more athletic offensively. The young kids have played a lot of softball outside of school. Our freshman bunch has played a lot of tournaments together. They have looked fairly comfortable at the plate this summer and in the preseason. They’ll have to ease into situational stuff but they really haven’t looked overwhelmed at the plate. We haven’t seen any pitchers throwing 65-plus yet though like we’ll see in the district.”
Durant’s returning experience will come mostly at the pitching position, corner infield and the outfield.
Emma Sherrer and Kenzie Trotter combined for more than 200 innings a year ago while in the heat of high school battles for the first time and Wyrick feels will be aided greatly under the tutelage of Gregory as well. Sherrer logged a 4.08 earned run average and struck out 89 while notching 135 1/3 innings in her freshman campaign while Trotter added 73 1/3 innings and 5.53 ERA.
When one of the duo is not in the pitching circle they will likely slot in at the first base position. They will also play key roles offensively. Sherrer posted a team-best 19 runs driven in and five home runs while hitting .304 and Trotter contributed a .267 average with four doubles and eight RBI.
Third baseman Dasia Lewis is back after a strong debut season. She led the team with a .323 batting average while adding four doubles, a homer and 10 batted in.
In the outfield, Korbin Robinson returns for her senior year and Anslee Morse will transition back to her more comfortable centerfield position after being forced to the infield a season ago because of other’s injuries. Alli Pratt is expected to move into a full-time role at the other corner outfield position after starting half the season last year.
Robinson hit .204 but showed some extra base skill with three doubles, two triples, a home run and 10 driven in. Morse notched a .253 average that included three doubles, a triple and nine RBI.
Junior Harper Plymale displayed potential last season, hitting .357 with limited at bats but is penciled in early as the everyday catcher.
Freshmen Allee Cooper, Kinsley Odom, Paisley Greenhaw and Marlee Burr are all expected to see time in the middle infield, providing very good athleticism and depth.
“We will start freshmen up the middle at shortstop and second base,” Wyrick said. “They are all pretty good but just need some experience to build some confidence. I don’t anticipate it taking them long. They are all very athletic and have good arms. It’s fortunate that we have more infield depth this year than we have had in a while.
“We should have a good blend of speed and plus-power hitters in the middle of the lineup. There are a lot of pieces there and our job is to put it together and find ways to win. I really believe we will put the ball in play more consistently than in the last couple of years. We’ll be better at situational softball. We are not going to smash it out of the park all the time but think we have a chance to hit quite a few doubles and find ways on base. Believe we can do much more with our legs whether it be running or bunting. We struck out a lot last year swinging at bad pitches and we’ll be much improved in our discipline this year.”
As far as the schedule, Tahlequah will once again be the team to beat with a stacked returning cast in the Lady Lion district.
Durant is expected to be in a solid group of teams once again battling for that all-important second spot and host regional position.
“Tahlequah is the team to beat in our district because they return basically their entire state semifinal team,” Wyrick added. “The rest of us are all bunched together. Coweta will be solid again. Shawnee should be a little better. We had Coweta beat at home and lost a nail biter at their place last year. We split with Shawnee in two close games. We want to get back into that spot where we can host regionals and feel like our non-district schedule can help us get there. We’ll go to Broken Arrow early and see a lot of great teams that expose your weaknesses. We’re going back to the packed Murray State Festival. McAlester is having a festival, and our tournament is challenging again.
“We will be a fun team to watch. We may take a few lumps with our youth the first couple weeks, but I think by the final week of August or Labor Day we’ll be a solid squad.
“The beauty of fast pitch is having the summer to get a taste of high school ball for the freshmen and just roll into the season. It’s hard for those competing against 18-year-olds when you are 14. I am excited to watch them compete.”
