Coach: JEFF TURTLE

OUTLOOK

The resurrection of competitive athletic programs continues for the softball program in 2022 at Sequoyah Tahlequah. When the pandemic closed Sequoyah and started an 18-month

athletics shutdown, many of the upperclassmen transferred to other schools where they could play their sports leaving mostly freshmen and sophomores to fill the teams when athletics at Sequoyah resumed last year. Despite that, the Indians had a successful fast pitch season including a 15-game winning streak

late in the season and a trip to the Class 3A regional

finals before being ousted by second- ranked Dewey. And that youth movement will be prevalent for coach Jeff Turtle’s softball program again this year. “We’re going to

be a very young team,” said the veteran coach. “We’ve got just one senior with the rest of the squad being mostly sophomores and freshmen.” That lone senior is Carey Soap who will be called upon to

be the example for the young team, but she is a strong, versatile player according to Turtle. The

Indians VYPE Top 100 nominee is Carey Folsom. Another solid performer will be sophomore second baseman Rylee Bush who can hit for power and for average. Other members of the Indians roster that Turtle will be relying on to help continue to bring the program back around are Macy McCrary and Skielah Hamby. Both are young, team-first kind of players. “Macy will play anywhere that’s asked of her without question and she works

hard on the field and in the weight room,” said Turtle. “Skielah is a great young lady that works hard on the field and in the classroom.

She’s always wherever she needs to be and can be counted on to do her best all the time.” Turtle has a knack for crafting winning softball programs at Sequoyah, so don’t be

surprised to see this group of youngsters make some noise in Class 3A again this

year.