Ponytails show confidence leading to tourney
Published 3:00 am Friday, June 19, 2015
![The Ponytails are eager to carry over the momentum from two weekend wins into District play in Luverne this evening. Back row, left to right- Emily Williamson, Kendall Navarre, Abbi Campbell, Morgan Bundy, Shelby Renfroe and Grace Rushing. Front row- McKenzie Cain, Mary Heffner, Sadie Leverette, Dannah Dawson, Ashlyn Shaver and Gracie Sneed. MESSENGER PHOTO/MIKE HENSLEY](https://www.troymessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2015/06/0619Troy-Ponytailsweb.jpg)
The Ponytails are eager to carry over the momentum from two weekend wins into District play in Luverne this evening. Back row, left to right- Emily Williamson, Kendall Navarre, Abbi Campbell, Morgan Bundy, Shelby Renfroe and Grace Rushing. Front row- McKenzie Cain, Mary Heffner, Sadie Leverette, Dannah Dawson, Ashlyn Shaver and Gracie Sneed.
MESSENGER PHOTO/MIKE HENSLEY
The Troy Ponytails All Stars team is beaming with confidence heading into this weekends Sub-District Tournament in Luverne.
During last weekend’s Troy Warm-up Tournament the Ponytails finished the tournament with a 2-2 record. The two wins for the Ponytails came at the hands of Eufaula 13-1 and Opp 8-3.
Ponytails head coach Matt Leverette got a good look at what Opp brings to the table during the win on Saturday. He is hoping history repeats itself this weekend when the two teams match up again in the Sub-District Tournament.
“It was good to see the other team in our area,” Leverette said. “It was good to see the girls play so well together. I am looking forward to watching them more this weekend.”
After the success from last weekend the Ponytails are ready to get started and show what they can do come tournament time.
The Ponytails’ opening round game will come Friday night when they once again face off against Opp. The other teams in the District are Luverne, Andalusia and Elba.
After last weekend’s tournament the Ponytails have been working hard to fine tune their game in preparation for what is sure to be a very competitive tournament.
“We are mainly working hard on our defense,” Leverette said. “We have a pretty solid team from top to bottom. Our pitching is young but we have three of them. I would say we have some speed on the base-path and our defense is doing really well. I think we will be very good defensively.”
A very common theme for many of the local All-Stars teams is the fact that they have many players on their team adjusting to new positions; that is no different for Leverette and the Ponytails.
“Most of our girls, and its like this for most of the tournament teams, these girls mainly all played infield positions during the regular season,” Leverette said. “The girls are getting used to new places. Some of them are playing the outfield and others are being moved to new places in the infield. That’s the main difference between regular season play and tournament play.”
The Ponytails have done a great job so far at making those key adjustments heading into this weekend.
“These girls are all good players and they will succeed at whatever position you play them. They all have great attitudes and are willing to help out when they can. We are very fortunate.”
Its because of all those reasons that Leverette believes his team will be very competitive in a tough tournament this weekend.
“I think it’s going to be really competitive in our Sub-District. We played Opp in the warm-up tournament. We had the opportunity to see Andalusia play and both of them are very strong teams; they are similar to us and how we play. We are also familiar with Luverne; we played them during the regular season. It’s going to be a challenge.”
The Ponytails would have to finish in the top two in the Sub-District to advance to play in the District Tournament.
The members of the 2015 Ponytails team are Morgan Bundy, McKenzie Cain, Abbigail Campbell, Dannah Dawson, Mary Heffner, Sadie Leverette, Kendall Navarra, Shelby Renfroe, Grace Rushing, Ashlyn Shaver, Grace Sneed and Emily Williamson.
Joining Leverette on the coaching staff are Alicia Leverette and Bruce Campbell.