Time to go outside
The spring sports season gets under way this afternoon on one of the earliest opening days ever. Baseball, softball and a few tennis teams are kicking off their seasons today, and the track and field season isn’t far behind.
It will be a hotly contested race for the 12th Region baseball title, with Boyle County, Danville and Mercer County again in the mix. The regional favorite, however, figures to be West Jessamine, which returns most of its lineup after winning the championship last year.
Defending regional softball champion Garrard County has a number of new faces in its lineup but should still be one of the top teams in the region, and an improved Boyle County team might be a player as well.
In tennis, the two best local teams last season, the Garrard County boys and Mercer County girls, will have much different looks this season, while Boyle County’s CeCe Witten and Lincoln County’s Haley Hart will once again be ranked among the very best players in the state.
In track and field, expect strong showings from the girls teams at Danville, Boyle County and Mercer County and the boys team at Danville, as well as the usually high number of outstanding individual performances from those schools and others
Here are this season’s new spring sports coaches at Advocate-area schools:
- Burgin: Chris Beckerson, track and field.
- Casey County: Neal King, baseball.
- Garrard County: Ed Rall, baseball.
- Lincoln County: Kalen Gibson, baseball; Clinton Hammack, softball.
- Mercer County: Stephen Lyons, softball.
As for why things are getting started so early, the first day that the spring teams are allowed to play is always the first Monday after the second state basketball tournament. So even though the weather is nice as the season begins, you can expect some cool days and nights ahead for early-season competitions.
