Another season of Reedley College softball is right around the corner.

Head Coach Kathy Kuball's squad is scheduled to scrimmage the Tiger Alumni Saturday at noon before going to Salinas to scrimmage Hartnell College on Thursday, Jan. 23. The official season opener will be at home on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at noon against Sacramento City College.

Last year, the Tigers were runners-up to College of the Sequoias in the Central Valley Conference and were two wins away from a state tournament berth, finishing with a season record of 33-11.

The Tigers do have to replace pitcher Emily Grimbleby.

"We've got some good kids coming back that will do a good job for us," said Kuball. "Catcher Sam Lizaola is looking good. Amanda Beltran is probably going to be doing a lot of our pitching." Bobbie Falcon and Karlie Fien return in the outfield along with utility player Shelby Ford is providing a lot of leadership.

Leading the list of freshmen is Ellie Montalvo, an infielder from Kerman.

From the fall, Merced looked much improved.

"We always compete. We are always fighting for the top."

By: Will Goldbeck