Head Coach Nilda Garcia has five starters returning from 2009 as the H.M. King High School varsity and junior varsity softball teams began practicing this past Friday.

“I lost four starters and a sub from last year,” Garcia said. “I think our team will be okay, my returning starters have been with me for the last three and four years; this year I have three seniors and two juniors on the team.”

Garcia is confident the returning five will anchor the team while new players fill in the gaps.

“The experience will be there and it is just a matter of replacing the seniors from last year,” Garcia said. “The main thing is for our younger players to have the skills they need and, secondly, make sure they connect with the players who have already been there. The girls need to get along and back each other up, that is what being a team is all about and what I look for.”

The Lady Brahmas will dedicate the first couple weeks of practice to cleaning up the A-B-C’s.

“We are going to drill the basic skills and ensure we know how to field, hit and get our players to unite,” Garcia said. “What I also look for in a player is to see if they can play more than one spot, that way if there is an injury I can move kids around and utilize the girls as much as I can.”

Last year, H.M. King finished 30-5 overall and 12-2 in District 31-4A where they advanced into the playoffs in second place.

Garcia expects this year’s district schedule to be another briar patch.

“It is going to be tough just like any other year,” Garcia said. “Tuloso-Midway (last year’s district champion) has everyone coming back, and every other team has improved.”

Upon making the 2009 postseason, the Lady Brahmas defeated Edcouch- Elsa in the bi-district round, bested Corpus Christi Moody at area, eliminated Gregory Portland in the regional quarterfinals and swept Dripping Springs in the regional semifinals.

H.M. King’s state campaign came to an end when the Lady Brahmas committed too many errors while getting swept by New Braunfels Canyon in the Regional IV-4A finale.

“We learned from it and have worked more on our defense,” Garcia said. “I have always told the kids ‘Defense wins championships’ and without it, that is where errors come from. So our main concern right now is tightening our defense and becoming error-free.”

Classified as the top team in the state early last season, the Lady Brahmas look to go further in 2010.

“Their goal and mine is basically the same, get further than we did last year,” Garcia said. “I tell them ‘This team has gone this far, let’s step it up a notch’; but we are still going to take it one game at a time, learn and improve from each game.”