This is Kent Decker’s third year as Mountain Ridge softball coach, but in some ways it feels like his first.

Decker took over the reins about a month before the 2016 season began as longtime Mountain Lions coach Michele Markham (now Fantin) stepped down to start a family. Her final two teams were Division I runners up and holdovers, at times, clung to the way things were done in those years.

Now Mountain Ridge softball is starting over, with a 4-8 record. Yet the coach said this young team — with four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen — energizes him.

"My young girls are experienced and they’re willing to make changes and sell out. I had mostly seniors last year and this team is a lot more fun to work with. They’re not seniors and locked into things. They’re willing to try anything we throw at them," Decker said.

Decker runs the Storm club program and had just agreed to coach Mountain Ridge in January 2016, when a biopsy showed he had throat cancer. He had six months of radiation and chemotherapy and lost the ability to use his voice.

The 2016 team finished 16-13 and reached the second round of the playoffs. In 2017, the coach was in recovery and the team finished 12-18.

"The vibe is amazing. Everybody’s young and hungry. Last year it was good too and everybody had the talent. Sometimes the hunger wasn’t there," sophomore Paige Callahan said.

Now he feels closer to 100 percent.

"It’s way easier because I can communicate better," Decker said.

The young Mountain Ridge team learned a valuable lesson March 22 – sometimes your chance to win a game arrives in the early innings.

The visiting Mountain Lions loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first inning against Phoenix Horizon No. 2 pitcher Ashley Gullmette. A ground out ended the threat and the Mountain Lions would only get two runners in scoring position in the subsequent six innings.

Junior ace Morgan Leinstock came in fresh in the fourth inning to protect a 3-0 lead. She struck out 10 of the 15 batters she faced in four scoreless innings.

Mountain Ridge also made junior starter Tiffany Williams’ job more difficult in the second.

Horizon sophomore Kaity Woods singled to lead off the inning then tried to steal second. An errant throw allowed her to come all the way home with an insurance run.

Williams settled down from there, scattering three hits in the final four innings of work.

"Tiffany (Williams) is buying into the way I call pitches. She started as a freshman and we had our learning curve. She wants to throw one pitch and I told her with these big bats you have to throw a changeup. Today she just pitched her rear end off for us and kept us in the game," Decker said.

Williams’ older sister, Ashley, played three years on the varsity and graduated a year ago.

Now a junior and in her second year as the primary pitcher, Tiffany Williams is taking a larger role mentoring the younger players.

"I’m definitely trying to be a good, strong Christian leader for the girls, to represent God in general. Also I’m trying to be a strong player on the field and no matter the situation, to keep my head up," Williams said.

Callahan was a bright spot for the Mountain Lions against Horizon, hitting two singles against Leinstock, who otherwise allowed only one other Mountain Ridge player on base.

Decker said she also had two hits off (Leinstock) March 19 too.

"It’s unbelievable what Paige Callahan is doing for us," Decker said. "I had her at second then moved her to short and she’s doing a tremendous job."

While still one of the team’s youngest player, Callhan is ready to put her stamp on the program.

"I’m a lot more comfortable. Last year we had seven seniors on the team. So I was kind of more quiet. This year I really had to step up," Callahan said.

Decker also said freshman center fielder and No. 3 hitter Taylor Myers provides quality at bats.

In the final month of the season, the coach hopes that more young players show signs of growth against powerhouses Chandler Hamilton, Phoenix Pinnacle and O’Connor.