ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: CHRIS LANG THE ROANOKE TIMES
Floyd finds new talent to replace graduated pitching ace.
They knew they could hit the ball, as well as field it consistently. That left just one question for the Floyd County softball team - how well would they pitch the ball.
The Buffaloes were challenged by the graduation of staff workhorse J. J. Sowers and it was up to inexperienced sophomore Amanda Harmon to pick up the slack. But how would she respond to the challenge?
Harmon took the challenge and ran with it, tossing a no-hitter in the Buffaloes' season-opening 24-1 victory at Carroll County, leaving coach Wes Starkey a bit relieved.
"Right now I would like my top pitcher to be Amanda Harmon," he said. "If she can hold down the pitching role, then I can keep my infield intact."
A spot pitcher, Sonya Hylton, is the Buffaloes regular shortstop. All she did was hold Craig County to one run in a 16-1 romp in Floyd County's second regular season game.
"We knew we had to replace J. J. Sowers, who was an outstanding pitcher last year," Starkey said. "Amanda had not pitched much last year and neither did Sonya. They seem to be coming along really well."
The no-hitter may have been a good tonic for any first-game jitters the newly anointed staff ace may have had.
"It was amazing how it helped her confidence," Starkey said. "You see her as the innings went on she got stronger. But she knows that there will be some rough times ahead and when she learns to deal with that it will help her mature as a pitcher."
The Buffaloes are an experienced squad, with eight seniors and six senior starters. The three captains - Hylton, second baseman Kim Sutphin and catcher Laura Pratt - have accepted their leadership roles well. Along with those three, center fielder Sara Conner has accepted her new role as the team's cleanup hitter.
If many of these names sound familiar to fans of Lady Buffalo basketball, it's because there is a proliferation of players who play both sports together. Hylton, Conner, Harmon, Lisa Smith, Karen Pursifull, LeAnn Bishop, Tracy Poff and injured third baseman Julie Sowers all were members of Floyd County's state tournament qualifying basketball squad.
"That certainly helps for them to play together in another sport," Starkey said. "They've played together in softball for a number of years as well, and that's starting to show in the faith they have in each other on the field."
That faith and team camaraderie leads to success, which is what is expected of the Floyd County squad. The Buffaloes were 41-5 in the past two seasons, qualifying for the Group A tournament in 1995 and falling in the Region C semifinals a year ago to eventual state runner-up Glenvar.
"We've set some fairly lofty goals for ourselves," Starkey said. "First of all, we set goals each year toward winning the district."
That district, the Three Rivers, has just gotten a lot tougher with the addition of Glenvar and a newly formed Giles squad. As in a few other sports, Glenvar and Floyd County have developed quite a rivalry. In both boys and girls basketball, the Highlanders and Buffaloes were the cream of the district. Starkey can see the same type of rivalry forming in softball as well.
"We know that they are a very solid program," Starkey said. "We knew that when Glenvar came into the district that a natural rivalry would form. That type of rivalry in softball can form too."
In last season's Region C semifinals, the Highlanders beat the Buffaloes 5-2 to advance to the Group A quarterfinals. The Buffaloes will look to avenge that defeat Monday afternoon when the two teams meet at Glenvar for the first of two meetings this season.
"We don't discuss the possibility of getting back at them," Starkey said. "We know if we can compete at the level of Glenvar that we can compete at the state level. We just hope that we play as well as we can and we hope it will be a good game."
Competing with Glenvar will get Floyd to its first goal of doing well in the district. But it will also help the Buffaloes to its second goal as well.
"We also set goals towards making the state tournament," Starkey said. "If we can make the state tournament, we feel we can do well because we have a lot of girls that have been there before."
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB