LISBON FALLS – She has all the tools a softball player might want, but her people skills may play the largest role this season.

When Lisbon’s all-star outfielder Kara Wilkins started the season, she had two goals in mind. She not only wanted to better herself as a player, but also wanted to help her younger teammates. Both will be beneficial to Lisbon’s success, but her ability to help nurture the young Greyhounds may make the biggest difference.

“I look to her for a lot,” said Lisbon coach Jay Wilkins, who is also Kara’s father. “Sometimes I feel like I look to her too much. She’s one of my leaders on the team, at the plate and on the field. I look to her to talk to the team and keep the team going.”

Being the coach’s daughter often brings some added responsibility, but it is a role that Kara has embraced.

“I like being able to help Coach Wilkins coach,” she said. “I like being able to demonstrate things. I like being able to help point out things. I love helping them.”

The Greyhounds are a young squad with promise, built around mostly underclassmen. Kara, one of the team’s more experienced and talented players, realizes she shoulders the responsibility to lead the team in a variety of ways, but that isn’t a daunting task to her.

“I love it a lot,” she said. “I love being able to help build confidence in my girls and build them up for games. Being a senior and being a captain, it gives these younger girls someone to look up to.”

In a sense, she is an assistant coach for Lisbon, but she doesn’t try to coach her teammates. Instead, she supports, encourages and lends a hand when needed.

“My goal as a leader is to help the kids out when they’re struggling,” said Kara. “I want to assist them, just help them, explain things to them if they’re doing something wrong, work with them. You don’t just point it out. You’ve got to do it with them. You’ve got to go out there and show them what to do.”

It is a role that seems to come naturally to her.

“I think I did get a lot of it from my father,” said Kara. “He’s a great coach. I wouldn’t be able to play the way I play if it wasn’t for my father. My Dad has taught me a lot.”

Kara captains the Greyhounds along with junior third baseman Dominique Mathieu. They have helped make this Lisbon team a closer-knit group than in other seasons.

“She’s a great leader,” Kara said of Mathieu. “I love having her be the other captain. Together we make a great team.”

Kara is one of the top outfielders in the MVC. As a junior, she was a conference all-star and Sun Journal All-State selection. She’s a tremendous fielder with a fine arm in center and she anchors the Lisbon offense in the cleanup spot.

“She’s started off slow because she hurt her wrist,” said the Lisbon coach. “I hope in the next couple of games, she’ll be right on target and back to where she where she was and hitting the ball again.”

The leadership of Wilkins and Mathieu has been crucial for a young team that started the season with four consecutive losses. But despite missing its top pitcher, Lisbon was in just about every game. While the offense has shown some pop, the defense has been prone to mistakes. The Greyhounds hope to turn that around by staying positive and learning from their mistakes.

The progress has been evident with a pair of wins in the last week.

“They’re keeping the team together pretty good,” Jay Wilkins said of his captains. “Hopefully, this will turn into something.”

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