Thomas Little, Rotarian of the Day on February 21, introduced guest of honor, Ronnie Abels. Mr. Abels, a native of Calvin and graduate of Calvin High School, is the head softball coach at Winnfield Senior High School, training and leading a team of 14 girls.

His team is young, with nine freshmen. In fact, all three of the team’s pitchers are freshmen. Coach Abel challenges his players to set the bar high, and their goal this season is to win the state championship. He also encouraged them to set the goal of becoming a team their community will be proud to support.

Coach Abels’ staff this season includes Coaches Lynn Bankston, Harvey Bartlett, Ryon Chandler, and Stacy James. James, the only female among the coaching staff, is the latest addition.

Abels praised local businesses and civic organizations for their support of the team. Various businesses in town put together the money to erect a new scoreboard for the field, a new infield tarp was donated and delivered by a local businessman, and the team has almost 70 local sponsors with signs at the field.

Ag teacher and FFA sponsor, Ryan Riley, is heading up the school’s sports media and will stream a play by play of the game with Emily Nevils as announcer.

The season began the week of February 12, and the team won their first two games. The softball season is intense, with 34 games played over seven and a half weeks, not counting the playoffs. The team has a game every weekday except Wednesday and two games on Saturdays.

Coach Abels emphasized that the guiding principle he teaches his teams is to put all others first, and themselves last.

Abels comes to us from Natchitoches Central High School, where his teams enjoyed great success. He taught and coached in Winn Parish in his early years in education, left to lead teams at Natchitoches Central, and he hopes to bring that same level of success to WSHS.