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Green Dragons Have An Eye On The Future

LP Softball Hopes To Develop Raw Talent As Team Rebuilds

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Lake Placid’s Ashley Paplow is one of many Green Dragons with raw talent, but LP is looking for experience to compete in a powerhouse district.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: February 20, 2008

LAKE PLACID — A constant state of rebuilding has been the blueprint for the Lake Placid softball team over the past few years, and head coach Marilyn Jones knows all too well the reasons why.

"Not one of the girls on this team plays travel ball," Jones said. "You can see a decided difference between [the Green Dragons] and a team that doesn't look upon this as a secondary sport."

The perennial doormats of Class 3A-District 10 — which features 2006 state champion Frostproof and last season's district champion McKeel Academy — Lake Placid has raw talent to climb the ladder into contention with the those playoff contenders, but the winning combination has eluded them.

"It's been tough for this program," Jones said. "Lake Placid is always the team that other teams want to play for their senior night. Every year we try and start fresh.

"There's a lot of raw talent on this team. We just have to scrape off the barnacles to get to it."

After losing five seniors from last year's squad, the Green Dragons are faced with playing numerous first-year varsity players, which gives many teams an edge in the category of experience.

Still, the team remains upbeat.

"We're trying to make this team better," said team captain Megan Spurlock. "We're all out on the field practicing every day. There are no easy days around here, but we're also in a really tough district."

Spurlock, a senior, plays the hot corner and is joined by only two returning seniors in Marsha McMimms and infielder Stacy Davis. They, along with junior pitcher Maribel Garza form the leadership core for the Green Dragons.

Coach Jones gives Spurlock credit for working with the younger girls and setting a good example.
"She comes to practice and works hard every day," Jones said. "The one thing is that she's too hard on herself, her own worst critic. All she needs to do is believe in her talents more and she'll be a much better player."

Garza, a second year player, has done a solid job on the mound, but her real forte is on the soccer field, where she helped lead LP to its first trophy of any kind, the Class 3A-District 8 district runner-up prize.

That leaves very little time to prepare for the softball season after a long soccer schedule, which is common theme among many of the Green Dragon players.

For this season, the Green Dragons are focusing on finding the right position for the right player and working on the fundamentals, such as who covers what base on a given play and the art of manufacturing runs.

Coach Jones understands that the future of softball in Lake Placid lies with the young — she said a little league is a much-needed asset that would expose young girls to the sport at an earlier age, while establishing a feeder program for the varsity squad.

"I tell these girls all the time to try and have a good time," Jones said. "But it's so much more fun when you win."

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