Within twenty-four hours, the 2020 West Virginia Wesleyan Softball season will be underway. The Lady Bobcats are scheduled play in a tournament hosted by Glenville State on Saturday and Sunday, taking on Shepherd twice, Mansfield, and Mercyhurst. The 2019 season was the first in Coach Steve Warner's career that ended under .500, mostly due to the youth up-and-down the lineup, and in the pitcher's circle. Back for his twenty-eighth season, Warner currently ranks thirty-first all time in NCAA Softball coaching victories, and he is ninth among active coaches. This will be the youngest team that he has ever had at Wesleyan, as there are no seniors on the roster. That is cause for great optimism in the current and future prospects of this group, and a challenge for a legendary coach to navigate a full season with young leadership. 

On the offensive side, the Lady Bobcats return First Team All-Mountain East Conference performers Lauryn King and Kennedy Cowart. The pair of juniors slashed .417/9/28 and .416/2/23 last season, respectively, and will be looked to for leadership as the most experienced players on the team. In addition to being named First Team All-MEC, King and Cowart were also named Second Team All-Region last season by the NFCA. The Lady 'Cats also return an exciting and young infield duo in Brooke Clark and Destiny Alvarado. As every-day players in their freshman season a year ago, the tandem collected a combined 79 hits, 9 HR, 44 runs, and 44 RBI. 

In the circle, the ace will again be Hannah Hudson. The sophomore from Blackstone, VA stepped into the number one spot as a freshman in 2019, and delivered with a 2.96 ERA in 163.1 innings. She also proved that she could provide stability and go the distance, as she completed the game in twenty-one of her twenty-four starts. Joining Hudson as another option for Coach Warner is Kelley Bourne, who tossed 53.2 innings for the Lady 'Cats last season with a solid 3.39 ERA. 

Coach Warner will be without Lauryn King this weekend due to illness, but that will allow for even more young players to get experience in the lineup and in the outfield. Plenty of chances for young players, and a handful of platoon situations, will likely be the case for the Florida trip as well as Coach Warner must know what he has before returning to the MEC schedule. Wesleyan was selected to finish fourth in the South Division by the MEC Preseason Poll. The first chance to see the Lady 'Cats in Buckhannon is Saturday March 21st when they host Glenville State.