By Chloe Newsome
As the coach encourages his team from the dugout, he watches his daughter pitching on the mound proudly. Being able to coach his daughter is what he’s used to, although this upcoming season he isn’t able to do that anymore.
The Delta softball teams have a whole new coaching staff for the 2023 season. Former varsity head coach, Logan Bland, decided to resign after she had a baby.
The new Delta varsity softball head coach is Todd Taylor from Albany, Indiana, with this being his first year ever coaching in a school atmosphere. He coached travel softball for seven years and coached league teams four years before that, but now his top priority is the Delta team.
Taylors’ oldest daughter, Kinlee Taylor, has played softball for the majority of her life being coached by Todd. Kinlee attends school in Bluffton, so she won’t be playing at Delta.
Taylor has coached for many teams in the past, and was also the director for a travel organization called Indiana Magic Platinum. He already knows some of the girls on the Delta team from coaching in travel softball and playing their teams.
Taylor wants to turn the softball program around and has set many goals for the seasons to come.
“I have made a five-year plan, I want to win 100 games, win a sectional and be top three in the conference. The school only has one sectional in school history,” he said. “We are going to fix that. I also want to teach the game to girls who are interested but have never played before.”
Delta’s softball team will also have a new head JV coach and assistant varsity coach, Sami Herron. Herron played softball at Delta for 3 years on the Varsity softball team until COVID-19 became a pandemic during her senior year of high school.
Herron graduated from Delta in 2020 and then moved on to be a shortstop at Anderson University. She played for two years at Anderson up until her sophomore year of college, when she was six and a half months pregnant.
Now, she has returned back to where it all started to help coach.
“I decided to become a coach because of my love for the game,” Herron said. ”I wanted to be able to show these girls how passionate I am and show them the importance of softball and how greatly it’s impacted my life.”
Both coaches have to multitask having a family and coaching along with other things. This may seem impossible for some, but Taylor and Herron manage their time for what they love. Taylor has five kids, Kinlee, Quinton, Emma, Layla, and Corbin.
“My fiance, she’s my biggest fan and picks up the slack tremendously so I can do what I love,” Taylor said.
Herron has a baby boy, Jameson, who was born July 27, 2022. Herron lives in Richmond, Indiana with her boyfriend, Isaak, and her son Jameson.
Senior Sydney Stroble has been playing softball for 13 years. Stroble has also set goals for herself for the upcoming season, including hitting more homeruns than she did last year.
“I think it will be a change at first, but I am excited to see what new atmosphere will come with the new season,” Stroble said.
With a whole new coaching staff, and after 8 seniors graduated after last year, the 2023 season will be filled with new opportunities and a fresh start to the softball program.
