Giving 100 percent and hustling are two things newly appointed Andalusia softball coach Marcus Taylor will be looking for at the start of next season.

Taylor, who is the current offensive line coach on the football team and served as an assistant baseball coach, came to Andalusia from Zion Chapel a year ago.

While at Zion Chapel, Taylor served as the head softball coach, where his team went .500 in that season.

He said his approach to softball is simple.

“We want to be aggressive as far as on offense goes,” he said. “We also want to be fundamentally sound. Defensively, we want to do the little things. We’ll probably play a lot of small ball, because I’m big on fundamentals.”

AHS principal Dr. Daniel Shakespeare asked Taylor if he would take the position after former coach Anthony Mikel stepped down after one year at the helm.

“Dr. Shakespeare asked me if I would be interested in it and I told him I would,” he said.

Taylor’s coaching philosophy is made up of “doing the little things.”

“We’re going to do the little things and we’re going to hustle,” Taylor said. “As long as my girls hustle and give 100 percent — by doing that, the small things will take care of themselves.

“Take what people give you and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

Taylor said he would most like for his girls to learn dedication.

“I want them to put 100 percent into something and to realize what it means to be fully dedicated to something,” he said.

As far as goals for next year are concerned, Taylor said he believes the team can “compete for a regional championship.”

“Right now, I just want to get better,” Taylor said. “I want the girls to get better and I want us to give everything we’ve got. When you put goals like that, I would like to see girls give 100 percent and do the little things right. If they give every bthing they’ve got, then you can’t really complain a whole lot.”

Taylor has a wife, Anna, and will be expecting his first child.