Expectations are high for the Kingston Lady Redskins heading into the 2026 fast pitch campaign with plenty of experience to fuel the charge. Eight starters return from a 27-10 squad that won the regional championship and has its sights set on their first statetournamentappearance since 2018.
“I feel like we can definitely improve on last year,” Minor said of his squad, which bowed out to powerhouse Sequoyah Tahlequah one round shy of state a season ago. “We have several girls that have been three- or four-year starters now and I really think we are very balanced. We can hit, pitch and play defense pretty well so I think we are pretty solid across the board.
“We are typically a smallball type team because of our speed and I believe we are going to be able to make things happen on the bases once again.”
Leading that assault will be junior lead off hitter Kate Ratzlaff, who finished third in the state last fall with a whopping 47 stolen bases.
Senior Dextry Bowerman and sophomore Keeton Hatley are expected to be big run producersalongwithTishomingo move-in Kanna Stroud. Other starters back that should continue to make big impacts are seniors Destry Davis and Ava Bain along with juniors Gracie Bridgman and Emma Bridgeman as well as sophomore Madi Hammond. Junior Kenley Hallum is another starter that has battled through injuries.
Versatility and depth are the key factors in the Lady Redskin pitching circle as ace GracieBridgmanreturnsand will be bolstered by Bowerman, Hammond and Stroud to give Coach Minor plenty of options to go with.
“They all have different attributes and strengths so we will have a bunch of options,” he stated. “That versatility will allow us to pick and choose how we want to pitch against certain opponents if we want to. Gracie will be our number one in the circle, and we are expecting another good year from her. It’s nice tohavethosemultipleoptions though.”
While Minor feels like defending champ Silo is still the district favorite, he likes his squad’s chances of once again finishing high enough to host a regional tournament despite playing in one of the toughest districts in Class 3A. A rugged non-district slate that includes powerhouses Latta, Washington and Lone Grove along with tournaments at Ripley, Silo and Norman along with the Hall of Fame Festival should have Kingston well prepared for a postseason push.
“Obviously Silo is the favorite in the district until somebody knocks them off,” Minor added. “Our district is really tough. Four teams (us, Silo, Valliant and Atoka) are really good and could surprise people in the playoffs.
“We scheduled some pretty tough non-district games to prepare us for the regional andsuperregionals.Nothing should be shocking to us.
Our overall record may not be great, but we’ll definitely be battle tested come playoff time.”