By Sports editor, Brian Hoffman
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, and a day later is the official
opening of high school spring sports in Virginia. Teams in the Roanoke Valley
have been practicing and scrimmaging for the past three weeks to get ready for
what promises to be another exciting spring of high school sports.
William Byrd will have four teams opening Monday as both boys’ and
girls’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ tennis make their season debuts. The girls’
soccer team will be home to host Bassett with the jayvees kicking off at 5:30 pm
and the varsity to follow at approximately 7 p.m. on Highfill Field.
“ We’ll be young this season but still hope to compete well in our district and
region play,” said Terrier coach Molly Cox. “We lost 11 seniors after last season but the
freshman class is very talented and many will make a big impact on our season this
spring. We have four seniors and all will be great leaders for us. We’re excited to get our
season underway.”
The boys will be at Bassett Monday, same times.
“We’re coming into the season with some excitement,” said coach Russell
Dishman. “We return a solid core of guys and have some new faces that should be in
some key positions for us.
“We have some solid leadership this year and we basically have the spine of the
starting 11 returning. We look to play a similar style from last year but with some
difference to fit the crew we have. Our first scrimmage was against PH Monday and I
was pleased to see their composure and ability to maintain their shape and work together.
With the good performance, expectations are high but I feel the boys are up to the
challenge.”
The Byrd tennis teams will also play Bassett Monday with the boys at home and
the girls at Bassett. Randy Bush takes over as girls’ coach.
“I’m very excited to coach these young ladies,” said Bush. “They’re easy to
coach, and they’re absorbing everything that Coach Trent is teaching them.”
The soccer and tennis teams will be in action on back-to-back days as all four
play again Tuesday against Hidden Valley opponents. This time the boys’ soccer and
tennis will be home and the girls’ soccer and tennis will be at Hidden Valley.
Next Wednesday, March 13, will be the debut of the girls’ softball team when the
Terriers travel to Christiansburg. Sophomore Addison Clark returns as Byrd’s ace pitcher
and her battery mate will be fellow sophomore Ryleigh Grubb. Slugging Sydney Blewett,
a senior, will be a big stick in the middle of the order.
“She has power and we have speed from top to bottom,” said softball coach Greg
Barton. “We’ll be doing a lot of running this year.”
The Byrd lacrosse teams will open a week from today, on March 14, against
Blacksburg. The girls will be home and the boys will be at Blacksburg.
“I anticipate this season to be better than last year,” said Byrd girls’ coach Dan
Eberhardt. “The team last year was very young with most of the players in their freshman
and sophomore years. This season the team will benefit from an additional year of work
as individuals and as a team.”
The boys look to continue to improve. They finished last season with a 5-
10 record and that was three more wins than in 2022. Byrd also made the region tournament for just the second time in school history with a young team, so the future appears to be bright for Will Satterfield’s team.
The Byrd baseball team won’t open until Friday, March 15, when the Terriers host Cave Spring. A game originally scheduled for March 13 with Craig County was cancelled.
Look for a preview of the baseball team in next week’s
Vinton Messenger sports section.
