MHS names new softball coach

 A new coach will lead the Maricopa High School softball team this year.

Jason Crawford joined MHS in August as softball head coach and English teacher, Athletic Director Brian Winter said.

Crawford has a decade’s experience coaching softball. Six of those years include head coaching positions at high schools in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Crawford will inherit a Ram team that, in April, finished a difficult season after their first year in the 5A Metro region.

“I know there has been some disconnect, and I’m excited to try and reinvigorate the community and get (them) behind the girls to build a strong program that’s going to be successful year after year,” Crawford said.

Ram softball could see a bolster in its operations as Crawford and Winter, both entering their positions at MHS this year, set two fresh pairs of eyes on the program.

“(Winter) and I both have lofty goals and lofty expectations,” Crawford said. “We seem to be on the very same page in terms of what we see in the future and how we see it getting there.”

In his tenure, Crawford also coached recreation ball and travel teams, the latter of which he hopes to establish at MHS during the summer.

“I’d like to keep (the team) together and keep them playing against top-tier talent to help make them better ball players and get them exposed to get them to college,” Crawford said.