LBWCC’s Lady Saints are ready to play softball.

For quite a while now — when they’ve gotten a chance — the Lady Saints have hit the practice field to get ready for their season opener, which is slated for Tues., Feb. 18, at Wallace-Dothan.

“They’re ready to get started,” Lady Saints coach Candace Tucker said on a cold and windy Thursday afternoon. “The team’s coming along. With the weather how it’s been, we haven’t been able to practice like we would want to. The more we work, the more I see things starting to come together. I think we’re pretty good in every position.”

One position the Lady Saints will be lacking in is pitching, the coach said.

“Honestly, I’d have to say that’s our weakest spot,” Tucker said. “We’re trying to better our defense to accommodate to the fact that we’re not going to overpower anybody. We’ll have to play defense, and we’ll have to score runs, for sure.”

When asked what sort of adjustments she had to make on the team, Tucker said it’s all about putting people in the right spots, and knowing what to do with the ball when they get it.

“I tell them every time we do defense to make the easy play. That’s the biggest thing,” she said. “Fly balls; ground balls right to you. Those are the ones we have to make. Other wise, we won’t have a chance.”

Putting the right players in the right spot is a top priority right now.

Tucker said luckily, that she will have some depth in each position with 24 players on the team.

“I have two or three in every spot who are battling it out,” she said. “Last year, we only had 13.

“It’s good because they can push each other,” she said. “Last year, it was pretty much I had my starting nine and that was it. There was no competition and fighting for a spot. It’s good this year because they’re having to work for their spot.”

Determining who will play where also depends on who the Lady Saints are playing on that particular day, Tucker said.

LBWCC will be playing in the ACCC’s South Conference this season. During their first tournament, which will be held Feb. 21-22 at the Dwight Mikel Sports Complex, the Lady Saints will play three teams out of their conference.

“I feel like Faulkner State will be good — they’re always good,” Tucker said. “They’ll be one of the top teams again. The rest of them we should be on an even keel with everybody else. We have to wait and see.”

The local girls who are on the team this year are sophomore Mary Schwartz, freshmen Ashley Copeland, Abigail Powell and Caitlin Jernigan of Pleasant Home; sophomores Beth Anne Spurlin and Kourtnee Bradley of Opp; and freshman Laiken Harris of Straughn.