Rocky Grove hopes a little more experience goes a long way

By Lisa Renwick

​Rocky Grove, like many teams last year, was young. 
The Orioles started six freshmen in 2021 and finished the season at 7-12-1. Needless to say, head coach Kylie Allen is excited about the team’s potential with some experience now under its belt.

“I am very excited about this year,” Allen said. “We had a young team last year with six freshmen starting and only lost two seniors. Now that they have a year under their belt, I am eager to see how their confidence and knowledge of the game have improved on the field.”

The Orioles will have the task of replacing do-it-all Kennedi Winslow. Winslow led Rocky Grove with a .577 batting average. She scored a team-best 31 runs (10 more than second-best), drove in 18 runs and had five home runs. She also saddled most of the work on the mound for the Orioles with 64 ⅔ innings.

The Orioles also lost Alexis Chambers and her .309 average to graduation.

Rocky Grove has the talent to contest those batting averages in Devin Rhoads (.400), Kaylin Jacoby (.433), Paige Cresswell (.362), RaeLynn Montgomery (.333) and Emily Rice (.448). And on the mound, Allen is pretty excited about freshman Elizabeth Mawhinney, who she said “looks very promising.”

“My goals are to finish the season better than how we start; to continuously improve and stay focused through the season,” Allen said. “I want to see us have little victories in games; to have what we practice happen in game situations. I would really like to see us finish at least .500. Our team goal is to make districts and win at least the first game.”
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Sierra Toland (left field), Kaylee Knapp (first base), Abby Cable (center field), Mady Taylor (right field), Cresswell (second base), Jacoby (catcher), Montgomery (third base), Rice (shortstop), Ashlyn Tucker (designated player) and Mawhinney (pitcher) are Allen’s probable starters.

Head coach: Kylie Allen
Roster
Reiley Gordon, 4, Sr., OF
Sierra Toland, 3, Sr, OF
Kaylee Knapp, 7, Jr, 1B
Abby Cable, 2, So, OF
Mady Taylor, 11, So, OF
Paige Cresswell, 44, So, P/2B
Kaylin Jacoby, 1, So, C
Raelynn Montgomery, 13, So, 1B/3B
Emily Rice, 6, So, 2B/SS
Ashlyn Tucker, 12, So, IF/OF
Jozlynn Wielandt, 5, So, OF
Hailey Ginnery, 24, So, IF/OF
Riley Dunkle, 00, So, OF
Elizabeth Mawhinney, 21, Fr, P/1B
Grascen Reyburn, 22, Fr, OF

​Lisa Renwick was a long-time sports reporter and sports editor for The Meadville Tribune. She recently took another job in order to spend time with her family and especially her daughter Brynlee who is entering kindergarten.

Lisa loves softball and her coverage over the years has taken her all over the east coast. She has covered state champions and gone to the softball World Series. She has agreed to help us out Eight & 322 by keeping an eye on this spring season for us. We are thrilled to have her.

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