In mid-September last season, Mexico softball fell below 500.

Starting from the next game, the Lady Bulldogs won a season-high eight straight games before eventually capping off their ninth straight winning season. They want to stay in the win column before hopefully advancing past the first round at districts this year.

Head coach Hanna Branch said last year’s team was experienced with a group of girls that stayed together for many years, and this group needs to build that experience and rapport.

“We’re a young group, but they are really willing to learn and buy into our program,” Branch said. “The biggest thing we have to work on is overall experience. Most of the girls are going to be pretty young.”

Mexico will be led by its two returning award winners: juniors Hannah Loyd and Maddy Feger. Loyd and Feger expect to be the Lady Bulldogs’ biggest weapons in the lineup as each had multiple games where they had multiple RBI.

The pair that play travel ball in the summer also are among the team’s standouts on defense. Loyd is slick behind the plate while controlling the running game, and Feger is a leader in the outfield.

“Hannah Loyd is a big leader for our team,” Branch said. “She is naturally really good about leading the girls on the field.

“Maddy is going to have a breakout year. Offensively, she’s a triple threat. She’s super quick, and she can lay down a bunt but she can also hit the ball really far.”

Branch said the team will have four seniors on an overall roster of about 25 girls that will carry about 15 on the varsity side. Kenley Jones is one of the seniors who played in the middle infield.

“The four seniors that we have are all really good leaders,” Branch said. “They are good about keeping our team’s expectations high. They know what is expected and know how to guide our younger players in the right direction.”

After that, Mexico expects to be trying some younger girls in key roles. For example, Aleigha Henderson and Keerstan Ewing will be sophomores this season but also Mexico’s primary pitching options. Branch said they did pitch a lot of varsity games as freshmen so they will be prepared to step into those roles.

“They’ll be pretty successful this year especially because, last year, they did really well for being freshman,” Branch said. “They’re going to be crucial parts to our pitching.”

Payton Shaw is a sophomore infielder with lots of potential and power at the plate, Branch said, but didn’t display any of it last year due to a knee injury. Junior Landri Teel is somebody who can step up more after coming through in big moments last season.

Branch said Mexico should be solid defensively but might need to be a “little creative” on offense after losing some power from last season. She said the Lady Bulldogs have a “scrappy” quality and some with the potential for big years that could make up for it and lead to another winning season for the program.

“We want to stay about 500 and just play the best we can,” Branch said. “We want to gain some confidence in ourselves.”