The Warrenton Lady Warriors are coming off an undefeated season in the GAC North at 8-0 and are not looking to slow down anytime soon. Third year head coach Chad Berrey feels that this team has a high ceiling.

“As we look ahead to our regular and postseason, our first goal is to win conference and then go win districts,” Berrey said. “I believe that these are extremely attainable goals for us and anything further than that is a plus.”

To do so, they will look to build on their 16-10 record from a year ago and doing so by finding some consistency on offense.

“We know that we have to be better about producing multiple runs every game rather than scoring big one game and nothing the next,” Berrey said. “The next area of focus for us in our baserunning; when we get girls on base, we know we need to do a better job about advancing our runners to the next base so we can put ourselves in the optimal position to score more runs.”

The Lady Warriors return eight of the nine starters from last year’s conference championship team and Coach Berrey will still look for newcomers to produce when given the opportunity.

“Even with being able to bring back 8 starters, we will be looking to our newcomers to make a big impact this year,” Berrey said. “We are excited to show off our new talent that has come into our program this season.”

One of those returning starters is the GAC North Conference Player of the year, Kathryn McChristy. The junior pitcher also received All-Conference, All-District, All-Region, and All-State honors.

“I believe knowing how tough it’s going to be and being mentally prepared from last year going into this year will help us know what to expect,” McChristy said. “The team as a whole will have to perform better this year to make it farther; it’s definitely a team effort.”

McChristy will return to the bump, coming off a stellar 15-7 season with an astonishing 1.71 earned run average after throwing nearly 150 innings a season ago.

The Lady Warriors will return plenty of experience with six seniors, one of whom is Hailey Roberts, who led the team in nearly every offensive category with a .410 average, 6 home runs and 37 runs batted in. She will play either shortstop or third base this season.

“We will know the weaknesses that we had last year and come back and be better than we ever have been,” Roberts said. “We will be a stronger and better team but also a better family, also, this year.”

Other returning seniors are Avery Tucker (C), Kennedy Estes (IF), Nicole DiSilvester (IF) Jordan Lynn (OF) and Michele Higby (CF). The remaining returners are junior Kaylin Haas (IF) and sophomore Mackenzie Hurst (3B).

High expectations are surrounding this team, as Warrenton’s coaching staff visualizes a big season for the program.

“We have an incredible group of 23 girls in our high school program that each compliments the next very well,” Berrey said. “In order for us to take the next step, it is simple, we have to put more runs on the board.”

With an extended offseason this past year, the Lady Warriors have shown their coaching staff that they are ready to take the next step. Now its all about the execution and productivity.

“After one week of practice, I am impressed by our girls’ work that they have put in during the offseason and I can already see the results unfolding,” Berrey said. “If our offense can get hot and stay hot through the duration of our season, we will make some noise this year.”