With extensive field renovations taking place at Whitley County High School, the baseball and softball Colonels are both eager to get back to action on newly installed turf playing surfaces. Things aren’t quite ready yet, but with some good luck when it comes to the weather (badly needed), games should be able to take place at WCHS later this spring.
While coaches Jeremy Shope and Angela Singleton wait for the remodel job to finish up, they are keeping their teams busy with indoor workouts and, when able, the use of middle school facilities and the high school’s turf football field. The situation is less-than-ideal, but both squads are making the most of it with the 2025 season fast approaching.
“The team has been taking things in stride,” Shope said of the baseball Colonels, noting that, while everyone loved the school’s previous field with its natural grass, the new artificial playing surface will help to ensure that games won’t be cancelled due to rain.
“It just makes sense in Kentucky,” Shope said of replacing natural grass with turf. “If schools are blessed enough to be able to do it, it just helps these student-athletes to get their games in.”
The Colonels ended the 2024 season at 28-11, including runner-up finishes in both the 50th District and 13th Region. Shope said that this year’s team will be a little younger than they have been in the recent past, but he expects them to once again be in the mix to contend for championships and compete with some of the state’s top programs.
“We play a brutal schedule,” Shope said, pointing out that the Colonels are scheduled to play against four frontrunners for regional championship titles right out of the gate in 2025. Those teams include Adair County (5th Region), George Rogers Clark (10th Region), Pulaski County (12th Region) and Madison Central (11th Region).
“There will be some valleys with this schedule,” Shope added. “It all depends on how they (the team) handle that, and how they handle the outside noise.”
Shope is counting on four seniors to provide solid leadership in both good times and bad this season. Luke Ridener, Chris Cureton, RJ Osborne and Jason Nunley will all be tasked with setting the tone, and helping to guide their younger teammates, especially when it comes to facing adversity.
“I don’t believe in rebuilding,” Shope said. “I believe in reloading, and the goal is always to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season.”
Shope said that he is excited to see what some of his young arms will be able to do on the pitching mound this spring, and he feels that the team has the ability to be very solid defensively. At the plate, he said that he expects the Colonels to continue developing and getting better as the season goes on.
“There is going to be a lot of competition amongst ourselves,” Shope said. “Every day is going to be like a tryout.”
Singleton likes mentality of 2025 Lady Colonels
On the softball side, Head Coach Angela Singleton said that she is excited to get her full squad together after the conclusion of basketball season.
Singleton said the Lady Colonels will feature a good mix of veteran players and younger talent. She also mentioned being encouraged by the fact that several players have decided to continue developing their game in the offseason by looking for opportunities to compete as members of travel ball teams. She said this should help the team be able to “hit the ground running” more easily this spring.
Seniors Morgan Huddleston, Makenzie Carr, Jadynn Johnson and Femke Haes will lead the way for Whitley in 2025 as the team hopes to improve on its previous 15-19 campaign that ended with a loss to Corbin in the first round of the 50th District tournament. Singleton said that the focus has been on continuing to improve in areas of weakness while trying to find the best possible lineup to put out on the field this season.
Singleton expects the Lady Colonels to benefit from increased roster depth, and while she is continuing to look for opportunities to develop additional pitching talent, she said that there are a couple of reliable options already in place.
Whitley County is scheduled to open up the new season on March 17 against Somerset.
