Oldham County Softball head coach Chris Lashley helped lead his team to its fifth consecutive regional championship appearance last year in his first season as the head coach.
“We’re lucky with our program here,” Lashley said. “We have the numbers and all the girls buy into the program that we’re teaching as far as winter conditioning, and they all put in the work all winter long. That makes it nice to be able to come out here every year and see the success that they’ve had and the program has.”
Lashley feels it’s important for his team to have a competitive start to the season. His team has jumped out to a 2-0 start in the first week of the season with a 17-13 win against Anderson County on March 12 and a 3-1 win against Central Hardin on March 14.
“What we’ve done is we put on a really tough schedule all the way through the year, building to that district and regional run,” Lashley said. “We’re doing the same thing this year. We’re starting out hot right out the gate playing these tough teams. I think it’s good for our team to build off that and to get the younger ones experience we need, so when we go into district or region play, they’re comfortable and feel comfortable playing in that kind of situation.”
Lashley enters his second year with four seniors on the team. One of those seniors is Kaitlyn Bradbury, who hit a home run in the season opener. She has been a starter in 30 more games in the last three years. She believes the biggest improvement over the offseason is getting stronger.
“We had the biggest improvement in strength,” Bradbury said. “That’s probably going to be our biggest improvement.”
Bradbury hopes to lead by bringing a good attitude to the team and making sure that everybody is playing for each other.
“[I want everyone] playing for each other and having positive attitudes,” Bradbury said.
Another senior that is back in a Colonel uniform is Breckyn Hamm. Hamm earned the third best batting average on the team last year while also being third on the team in hits and RBIs. She also hit a home run in the season opener. Hamm believes confidence has grown a lot throughout the offseason and believes everybody has each other’s back.
“I think our big motto is this pitch,” Hamm said. “I think with the younger girls, they really have to know that, because we play really good competition. To not get down on yourself when you make a mistake and to know that your team has your back no matter if it’s in the field, it’s this pitch or if it’s when you’re hitting, it’s this pitch. That’s our big motto this year.”
Hamm believes the season opening win against Anderson County was huge for the team, proving that their work paid off in the offseason.
“Throughout the entire offseason, everyone showed up and put their best foot forward,” Hamm said. “I think that game really just showed fielding wise and really hitting, we hit very well that game. That really showed us.”
Senior catcher Ava Welch is returning behind the plate. As one of the seniors, she wants to make sure everyone is playing for each other and picking each other up.
“We do really well with the seniors supporting the young girls,” Welch said. “We have a lot of freshmen and eighth graders who are playing with us. The juniors and seniors support the younger ones really well, so that they can help the success of our program in the future.”
Oldham County gets both their starting pitchers back in senior Katie Ladow and junior Jozie Lashley, Lashley’s daughter. Both combined for 14 starts and pitched 167 innings last year. The Lady Colonels main starter in 2023, Caroline Stetson, graduated last season. Ladow has seen her confidence and trust in the defense behind her grow.
“I rely on the defense and knowing that my girls have my back and just relax and be there, especially with Jozie behind me, because our styles are so different,” Ladow said. “It’s just a different look for the other team, so I’m just really comfortable with the pitching that we have, and our confidence has been everything for all of us.”
Ladow wants to make sure everyone is accountable, so the team can be successful.
“We make sure we hold everyone accountable and stay accountable ourselves in order to stay successful but not only being family on the field but also outside of the field and in school and having each other’s backs and just being there for one another,” Ladow said.
Lashley feels like each senior brings something different to the team with how they play.
“[Welch] is a clutch player, she’s a gamer,” Lashley said. “That’s the thing about Ava. They all bring something different to the table. It’s really nice. Katie Ladow is returning. She’s district MVP, coming back as our pitcher. It’s a big advantage for us going forward as well.”
Lashley believes it’s going to be an exciting year for the pitching unit with Ladow and Jozie taking bigger roles as well as freshman Kailyn Claybern stepping into that third pitcher role.
“We’re counting on Jozie a lot,” Lashley said. “We’ve also got a freshman coming in this year, Kailyn Claybern…She’s going to be a big part going forward as far as our team and growth. She’s good at hitting locations, hitting spots. That’s what Jozie needs. When Jozie gets down into hitting her spots, she’s going to be a very effective pitcher.”
Welch has seen Claybern learn from Ladow and Jozie by watching what they do on the mound.
“It’s a big thing to just be behind seniors and juniors just to watch how they act and everything, so it’s very influential,” Welch said.
Oldham County lost its best statistical hitter from 2023 in Zoe Waddell. Lashley sees Hamm and Jozie filling those shoes left by Waddell. Last year, Jozie was first on the team in hits and second on the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs.
“Breckyn is a phenomenal lead-off hitter,” Lashley said. “She knows how to work the count. Jozie is our anchor as far as the hitting part of the game goes. I’m hoping she can fill in the role of Zoe. We’re going to miss Zoe. She was a gamer, a clutch player, an anchor at first base. She’s going to be tough to replace.”
The Lady Colonels return three key sophomores in Aubrey Batts, Sydney Wirth and Bekah Townsend. Batts led the team in walks and was tied for third on the team last year in home runs. Wirth is replacing Waddell at first base, and Townsend hit two home runs in the season opener. Hamm has seen their confidence improve going into their sophomore years.
“Last year, they were freshmen, they’re scared,” Hamm said. “This year, their confidence has boosted so much. Bekah had a huge game [March 12]. She had two bombs. She was just hitting well. She was seeing the ball really well. Sydney did really good in the field. Aubrey has been here forever. Aubrey is just a rock for this program honestly. She’s doing great, and all of them as a whole are doing really good.”
Ladow sees all three sophomores as good leaders.
“They still managed to be there for everyone, even the older girls,” Ladow said. “They still pick them up, and they’re really responsible. They have their stuff done, and they do what they have to do for the team.”
Hamm has seen some of the underclassmen really step up over the offseason.
“Kailyn, as in pitching, she’s stepped up really big, and I think Kayla Cartledge and Lori [Edgar], they’re really stepping up too,” Hamm said. “They’re both battling it out at second, and you see every game them working as hard as they can. They’ve worked in the gym all offseason, every practice working their butts off, and it’s really shown.”
Lashley has also seen Townsend and Cartledge make a big leap this offseason.
“Bekah Townsend has a ton of power and a great glove,” Lashley said. “Lori Edgar has crazy power. She’s young. She’s going to have a really fun year. Kayla Cartledge started for us some last year, came in whenever we had a couple of players go down early. She’s a solid base hitter and fast, and she has a really good glove.”
With a mixture of upperclassmen and underclassmen, Oldham County hopes to continue its dominance over the district. The Lady Colonels have not lost a district game since 2016, winning a combined 24 consecutive games against their county rivals.
Welch wants to go into the games this year confident but not cocky after a close call against North Oldham in the district championship last season.
“We need to know that we’re better but trying, still performing as you should and still taking the game seriously,” Welch said. “It’s really big for us this year, because we learned last year that we shouldn’t do that.”
For the seniors, Lashley wants them to enjoy their senior year because of all the hard work they’ve put into the team over the course of their high school careers.
“I want them to enjoy it, because it goes by so fast,” Lashley said. “It’ll be over at the brink of a hat. They’re all a bunch of good kids. We’re a fun team to be around. We have a great time together.”
Bradbury wants to remember the energy of the game and how it was played.
“We don’t remember the wins and losses, we just remember the energy of the game,” Bradbury said.
Welch will remember the atmosphere of the games.
“I’ll remember how it felt to be in the environment that we were in with some of your best friends,” Welch said.
Hamm wants to remember the bonds she created with her time playing softball.
“Games, you win or lose but bonds stay,” Hamm said. “This year, this team is really a family. We have each other on and off the field no matter if it’s in school, if it’s outside of school, if it’s at practice, we always have each other’s back. I think that’s really important.”
Ladow will remember the confidence as a team and being around her teammates.
“I will remember the confidence as a team and being around everyone and how it felt to be loved by just anyone regardless of who you are and how you play that there’s that support system no matter what,” Ladow said.