When you talk to Taylor Hoagland about her breakout senior season, don’t expect to hear stories of how she stayed late after practice to get some extra work in on her swing.

The recent Flower Mound graduate admits she did little to no extra hitting work outside of normal practices prior to or during the 2008 softball campaign – a season in which she batted .523, stroked 11 home runs and led the Jaguars to the Class 5A Region I Semifinals.

“I hear all these girls talking about how they work with three hitting coaches or do extra practice in their garage,” she said. “I gotta be honest, I don’t do that. It’s not like I don’t feel that I need to, but for me it’s the mental aspect of the game that I try to work on the most. I see it mentally and I do it.”

Hoagland did recant a bit, though, joking that things would be a lot different next season at Texas. But when you know how to play the game – it’s hard to argue too much. That was certainly the case with several Flower Mound athletes this past spring.

Hoagland was one of three to make the Dallas Morning News’ All-Area Softball team. She was joined on the first team by Natalie Huse while teammate Lauren Kennewell made second team. Chase Durham was the lone Jaguar representative on the DMN All-Area Baseball team.

“I was very pleased to see so many of them on there,” Flower Mound softball coach Wendy Massey said. “I think that’s the most we’ve ever had in softball and I think all these kids were deserving kids who work extremely hard.”

The All-Area teams featured a combined 63 athletes. The four representatives from Flower Mound were the only selections from the Lewisville ISD in either sport. There were three other baseball/softball players from District 6-5A that made the list, and all came from Coppell (2 baseball, 1 rep in softball).

Hoagland – despite her different approach – was by far the catalyst for the Jaguars this season. She was named District 6-5A’s Most Valuable Player and hit two home runs in Game 3 of the regional quarters against Colleyville Heritage. She finished with 29 runs batted in and scored 42 runs.

Huse – only a sophomore – was named the District’s Offensive Player of the Year. She hit .479 with 20 steals and 42 runs. Kennewell was one of three standout pitchers for the Jags, finishing with a 13-4 record, 1.51 earned run average and 100 strikeouts. She will play at Iowa State next fall.

As for Durham, he was the lone representative for an underdog Jaguar baseball team that advanced all the way to the Region I finals before losing to Southlake Carroll in two games.

“This is just a great honor,” Durham said. “I think for Flower Mound as a whole, it’s a bunch of kids who only want to get better. And that says a lot for both the baseball and softball programs.”
Durham batted .376 with 14 doubles , four home runs, 29 runs batted in and 39 runs as the leadoff hitter. In the playoffs alone, he batted .372 with 13 runs.

“He was a great selection,” Flower Mound coach Steve Stinson said. “He’s not your typical lead off hitter in that he’s a doubles guy who drives in a lot of runs. He had a great season.