Andrew McGee
Suwannee Democrat
Branford —
The Branford High School softball season officially begins Feb. 4 and the teams are in the very capable hands of Coach Alex O’Quinn. Although this is officially his first year coaching at BHS, he’s been around the ballpark a few times.
“I coached in college. Actually I played, but I had surgery on my elbow,” said O’Quinn. “I started helping the softball team because I couldn’t play baseball while I was under the knife.”
O’Quinn was a pitcher for Erskine College, a small college in South Carolina. After his injury, he coached for a number of years.
According to O’Quinn, there were about 50 young ladies who tried out for the three teams at BHS which are varsity, junior varsity and middle school.
“We had a good turnout,” said O’Quinn. “We’ve kept around 12 per team.”
According to O’Quinn, the team lost one senior, a pitcher from last season because she graduated. There are two seniors on the team this year. One is Becca White, who tore her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in her knee which recently put her out for the remainder of basketball season a few weeks ago.
“I think she’ll be helping us a little bit,” said O’Quinn. “She won’t be able to play. I really hate it for her.”
Too early to tell how the team seems to be?
“We’re getting better, we’re kind of starting with a new coach and new ideas,” said O’Quinn. “We have our middle school team we’re trying to build. We’re also trying to build up our program, not just for one team. We’ve got some real good young girls I think are coming through. So, we’re here and doing the best that we can. I think we’re going to be okay.”
The first game of the official season is Feb. 4 when BHS plays Dixie County. O’Quinn said that after that point on, his teams will be playing about three games a week through April.
