By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA— West Rowan softball has won 20 games three years in a row, so those other girls on the field with NCHSAA Female Athlete of the Year Emma Clarke were more than the supporting cast — they were pretty good.

Now it’s their show, and with lots of talent and lots of college signees, the Falcons have a good chance to keep things rolling in Mount Ulla. Arabelle Shulenburger is still in the circle, and a lot of people in blue and white are still swinging, so another 20-win season could happen, even playing in a South Piedmont Conference that appears to have at least six competitive teams.

“We’ve had a run of strong seasons and we’ve got another good team.” said West coach Jimmy Greene, who has coached the Falcons for 11 straight winning seasons. “We’ve had some defensive episodes in the early going, but we know the gloves will come around. We’ve got five seniors who start, and with that kind of experience, you’ve got a great chance to be good.”

The Falcons aren’t the favorites in the county or in the SPC. East Rowan returns almost everyone from a terrific team that handed West four of its eight losses, the fourth one in the second round of the 3A playoffs, and is a state contender.

“East is absolutely the favorite, so no pressure on us.” Greene said. “We’re just going to go out there and have fun. Our league has a lot of good teams, and we’ve got to be ready for all of them. When the time comes, we’ll play East, and hopefully, we’ll play well.”

Clarke’s graduation will be somewhat mitigated by the arrival of transfer Raney Phelps from Davie. Phelps won’t hit the ball to the moon as often as Clarke, but the left fielder was devastating in the Falcons’ first six games, batting .632 with 12 runs scored. That’s two per game.

“Really good hitter who puts the bat on the ball every time,” Greene said. “She’s very tough with two strikes.”

Phelps also is the backup pitcher.

Another new name to know is freshman third baseman Ava Baxter, who launched two homers in the early going.

“Any freshman is going to have an adjustment period,” Greene said. “I don’t care how good your travel ball team was you were playing against girls your age. When you get to high school, now you’re 14 or 15 and facing some 18-year-old pitchers, so there will be ups and downs. But Ava is going to be really good. She’s a sponge and she’s learning every day.”

The rest of the starters are familiar faces. Reese Poole, an outstanding young  hitter, moves over to shortstop, where Clarke played last season. Poole batted .588 in the Falcons’ first six games.

Catcher EA Nance, a Pfeiffer recruit, hit two homers and had a .444 batting average as West got off to a 4-0 start in the SPC.

Ella Doby is still in center field. Tayor Keller returns at first base. Kayla Burns has moved from left field to right to make room for Phelps. Riley Haggas, a Tampa recruit with a strong arm and serious power, is still at second base.

Lenoir-Rhyne recruit Shulenburger has a lot of big-game experience in the circle and is also helpful with a bat in her hands.

Basketball player Kennedy Clawson came out. She’s still trying to get her timing at the plate, but she can help running the bases as a courtesy runner for Shulenburger or Nance.

West has quite a few more players on the roster. Lacey Houghton, Ansley Jenkins, Addison Sans, Kaylee Furr, Aubrey Javidi and Regan Eggers will be ready when they get opportunities.