BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

Spring has arrived in Susquehanna County but Mother Nature hasn’t figured it out yet. Softball fields will be soon be full of enthusiastic and talented players at the local high school level.

The Elk Lake Lady Warriors softball team spent time getting ready for the season in sunny Florida as they made their every-other-year trip the Disney/ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.

They enjoyed weather in the 80s and 90s while they played games against teams from all over the country.

Brother and sister coaching duo, Anthony and Ariel McKennas are coaching the Montrose Lady Meteors softball team for the second year.

Last season the Lady Meteors won the Lackawanna League Division IV title.

The team consisted of two All-Stars, who are both returning to the team and several Honorable Mentions.

Returning starters are Lacy Nealy, Anna Churco, Katie Warner, Alana Jerauld, Hailey Rapisardi, and Anastasia Hester.

They will be joined on the field by Bridget Buck, Mindy Carlton, Theresa McNamara, Emily Stankiewicz, Brianna Baker, Cammi Clark, Skylar Groover, Alexandra Savage, Madelynn Guinane, Betsy Warner, Claudia Cordner, McKala Newhart, Madeline Weidow, and Katrina Vidota.

Coach McKennas has some predictions for his team. “I predict that we will have a very strong team again this year and we will be a contender for the Division IV title again as well as make a run in Districts. A goal I have for this season is to minimize the amount of mental errors that occur and maximize the opportunities that present themselves throughout the season.”

The Blue Ridge Lady Raiders will be coached by Earl Marvin and Chad Guzy in their first year coaching at the varsity level.

The coaches hope to capitalize on the girls’ speed and hitting abilities to improve on last year’s 2-12 record. They will look to returning starters Brooke Marvin, Rebekah Balye, Mikaela Conrad, Taylor Hall, and Viktoria Layton to lead their team which is young, but has a lot of heart according to the coaches.

Rounding out the roster are Cassidy Church, Taylor Bronson, Callie Wyatt, Hayleigh Fekette, Hunter Vaughn, Brianna Graves, and Britney Reinhart.

Their goal is to have a successful season by strengthening at all levels of the game.

Third year coach, Tom Rudzinski, is back coaching the Mountain View Lady Eagles again.

After upsetting Lakeland last year the Lady Eagles made it to the District Quarterfinals of the playoffs. They had a 9-3 record and lost those three games by only one run each.

Returning starters for Mt. View are Samantha Krisa, Makenna Whitaker, Ariana Gabriel, Rebecca Tiffany, and Ali Showalter. The rest of the Lady Eagles’ team consists of Hannah Richner, Hannah Phillips, Jordan Bomershein, Devon Ball, Blake Reed, Kylie Vanteger, Erika Freely, Lucy Adams, Alexis Diaz, and Holly O’Brien.

Coach Rudzinski says that “If (our) defense becomes solid (we) will challenge for the division title. And that is the goal of the Lady Eagles this year, to win division and district titles.