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A year after winning its second district championship in four years and finish- ing the season with a 21-3 overall record, the 2021 McDonald County High School softball team is expected to continue the Lady Mustangs status as one of the top softball programs in southwest Missouri. Despite the loss of seven seniors, three who signed to play college soft- ball, McDonald County brings back a solid nucleus from last year who will be joined by a very talented freshman class. Perhaps the biggest change for the Lady Mustangs will be former assistant coach Heath Alumbaugh taking over as head coach for the departed Skyler Rawlins. Rawlins, who took over the Gravette Lady Lions program over the summer, won 99 games in five years at MCHS, including two district and two conference championships. Alumbaugh is a 2001 graduate of McDonald County. He began his coach- ing career in 2005 at McDonald County where he coached football and baseball at various grade levels before joining the softball program in 2016. "The expectations for Lady Mustang softball never change," Alumbaugh said. "We have a great mix of returners, as well as some very talented athletic play- ers coming into the program. We expect this group to be able to compete at the top of the conference standings and put us in a position to possibly play for another district championship." Leading the returners are the one-two pitching punch of Alexis Hopkins and Madeline McCall. Hopkins, a senior right-hander, went 12-0 with a 1.66 ERA last year, while McCall went 9-2 with a 2.33 ERA in her sophomore campaign. "Alexa hasn't lost a game in the circle over the last two years," Alumbaugh said. "We know what we will get from her. She is a pitcher that throws strikes and forces her opponents to beat her. She will not beat herself. Alexa also adds some power at the plate in the middle of the lineup." McCall has established herself as a power pitcher. She had141 strikeouts in 84 innings last season. "Madeline can be dominant when she pitches," Alumbaugh said. "She also provides lots of pop at the plate." McCall earned first-team all-confer- ence honors last season, while Hopkins was named to the second team. Both were named first-team all-district honors, while McCall was first-team all-region and Hopkins was second-team. It is among the position players where the Lady Mustangs will have to replace Thursday, August 27, 2020 McDonald County Press 7C F a l l S p o r t S p r e v i e w Rick Peck Special to McDonald County Press Lady Mustangs Pumped For Third District Championship Softball RoSteR No. Name Grade Pos. 2 Kya Baisch 10 OF 3 Zoe Parish 11 IF 4 Natalie Gillming 9 IF 5 Melanie Gillming 11 OF 6 Ashleigh Dornon 10 OF 7 Mariana Salas 11 IF/C 8 Hannah Padilla 11 P/OF 9 Alexa Hopkins 12 P/IF 1 Reagan Myrick 10 C/IF 11 Kylie Brooks 9 IF 12 Madison Grider 11 OF 13 Carlee Cooper 9 IF 14 Adasyn Leach 11 IF 15 Maggie Pratt 10 IF 16 Madeline McCall 11 P/IF 17 Amanda Pacheco 10 C/IF 19 Kaylee Banta 10 IF 20 Alexis Abbott 10 OF 21 Kylan Sherman 10 1B/OF 22 Heidi Wolf 9 IF 23 Jacie Frencken 9 IF/P 24 Katelynn Townsend 9 OF/SS 25 Analisa Ramirez 10 OF 26 Deorica Zamora 12 OF 27 Nevaeh Dodson 9 OF/P RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS The 2020 McDonald County High School softball team. We Proudly Support Our Mustangs GOOD LUCK TO ALL STUDENT ATHLETES! – Sheriff Michael S. Hall SEE SOFTBALL PAGE 8C