Waccamaw and Andrews take to the diamond

By Chris Sokoloski

csokoloski@gtowntimes.com

PAWLEYS ISLAND -- After just two weeks of practice, Waccamaw and Andrews high schools' softball teams took to field for a scrimmage on Tuesday night.

There were umpires to call balls and strikes and outs, but seeing players in a game situation was more important than who scored the most runs.

"You hope they make clean plays in the field and your pitchers throw strikes," Waccamaw coach Scott Streiffert said. "The one think I was a little disappointed with was we didn't go after the ball a few times. We looked like we were a little afraid, a little taken aback by the situation."

"We're looking for weaknesses in our team what we need to work on, what we can improve on," Andrew coach Meagen Johnson said. "We're trying people out at different spots, seeing what people can do in different positions. We need to make sure we have good backups at every spot."

Both teams are young.

Johnson expects to have two seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and one freshman on her roster. Seven Yellow Jackets return from last year's team that won the region and a couple of playoff game before losing in the district championship.

"We're excited we think it will be an exciting season," Johnson said.

Streiffert expects to have one senior, four juniors, four sophomores, six freshmen and one ninth-grader on his roster. Only about five Warriors saw any significant playing time last year when the team made the playoffs and finished third in the district tournament.

"Some of these guys are young and we have a lot of people in different positions," Streiffert said. "These kids are very coachable. As they experience success they'll get better."

Both teams will participate in the annual Bishop Blast on Feb. 24-25 before the regular season begins.

Andrews' 2012 schedule is: March 7, at Carvers Bay, 5:30 p.m.; March 9, at Berkeley, 7 p.m.; March 13, at Manning, 7 p.m.; March 16, hosting Kingstree, 6:30 p.m.; March 20, at Timberland, 7 p.m.; March 21, at Johnsonville, 6 p.m.; March 22, at Georgetown, 6 p.m.; March 27, hosting Lake City, 7 p.m.; March 30, hosting Manning, 7 p.m.; April 2, hosting Johnsonville, 6 p.m.; April 3, at Kingstree, 6:30 p.m.; April 5, hosting Timberland, 7 p.m.; April 10-12, at the Ripken Spring Break tournament; April 16, hosting Georgetown, 6 p.m.; April 18, hosting Carvers Bay, 5:30 p.m.; April 19, at Lake City, 7 p.m.

Waccamaw's 2012 schedule is: March 5, at Georgetown, 6 p.m.; March 7, at Manning, 7 p.m.; March 13, at Mullins, 6:30 p.m.; March 15, hosting Manning, 7 p.m.; March 16, hosting Marion, 6:30 p.m.; March 20, hosting Aynor, 6:30 p.m.; March 21, at Timberland, 7:30 p.m.; March 23, at Dillon, 6:30 p.m.; March 27, hosting Loris, 6:30 p.m.; March 29, at Marion, 6:30 p.m.; April 4, at Loris, 6:30 p.m.; April 6, at Aynor, 6:30 p.m.; April 13-14, hosting Waccamaw Invitational; April 17, hosting Mullins, 6:30 p.m.; April 18, hosting Timberland, 6:30 p.m.; April 20, hosting Dillon, 6:30 p.m.; April 23, hosting Georgetown, 6:30 p.m.