King’s Fork senior Stephanie Livingston hasn’t made it to the Southeastern District Tournament during her career on the Lady Bulldog softball team.

Senior pitcher Miranda Whitley did two seasons ago, but, “I didn’t get to play in that game.”

This spring is the last chance for Livingston, Whitley and classmates Haley Johnson and Alaysha Mikell. The good news for the Lady Bulldogs is they don’t have far to go to reach that goal.

“We lost one game or else we could’ve been in districts. That’s motivating me this season, to know we have a chance to get to districts,” Whitley said.

“They’re focused on what we’re doing,” said King’s Fork head coach Richard Froemel.

“We’ve been successful in our two scrimmages. I’m really impressed with the mental aspect of the game with this team. We’ve come out both times and scored three or four runs in the first inning,” Froemel said.

Froemel knew he had a solid battery lined up, with Whitley taking over the ace pitching duties from Lindsey Holloman, who’s now pitching for UNC-Charlotte, and Johnson at catcher. Johnson was one of KF’s big power hitters a season ago and an honorable mention all-district player.

“Haley’s a very sound catcher and she can play first (base). She’s always been a great bat for us and she’s just a student of the game,” Froemel said.

Both the head coach and his seniors feel they have a deep squad, which is certainly a must as the Lady Bulldogs and the rest of the district must contend against the programs that have the last two state titles, Hickory in ’08 and Great Bridge last year.

“The young girls are stepping it up and doing really well,” Whitley said.

“Basically the whole team plays travel ball year-around and we bring different stuff from different teams,” Mikell said.

Froemel is keeping two freshmen and two sophomores on his roster.

“My two freshmen are loaded with ability and very talented,” Froemel said.

“It’s an old cliché, but you have to score runs to win,” Froemel said. “I’m sure we’ll play solid defense and if we hit the ball like we’re capable of doing, we should do well.”

“The girls’ chemistry is really good. You can see it practice every day, just with the little things we’re doing. They really are supporting each other and that means a lot,” Froemel said.

“Hopefully, we’re (the seniors) are setting a good attitude for the rest of the team,” Livingston said.

“So far we’re playing really well as a team. We’re making good plays as a team and hitting well,” Livingston said.