The Tyler Legacy Lady Raiders will begin the 2025 softball season Monday at Nacogdoches. (Tyler ISD)

A new era of Tyler Legacy softball begins on Monday.

When the Lady Raiders take the field to begin the 2025 regular season on Monday at Nacogdoches, they will be under the direction of Sam Weeks.

Weeks comes to Legacy after compiling a record of 288-153-5 in the past 15 seasons at Troup.

Weeks takes over for Justin Kniffen, who was 89-86-2 in seven seasons at Legacy, leading the Lady Raiders to the playoffs in 2021 for the first time since 2015.

In 2022, Tyler Legacy opened its on-campus softball field. The Lady Raiders won 23 games and swept Garland (10-0, 5-1) in bi-district to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2010. It was the Red Raiders’ first season with at least 20 wins in program history.

In the area round of the 2022 playoffs, Legacy fell to Mansfield Lake Ridge, 6-3, in a one-game playoff. Legacy led 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning of that game before Lake Ridge rallied. Lake Ridge advanced all the way to the Class 6A championship game.

In 2023, Legacy won 22 games and made it back to the playoffs, falling to Wylie East in three games in a bi-district series (3-8, 2-0, 1-4).

This past season, the Lady Raiders battled injuries and finished 13-15 overall and 5-7 in District 10-6A play, one spot out of the playoffs.

Legacy enters the season with nine seniors, but just three — Aubrie Kirk, Ruby Byers and Vivian Williams — are returning varsity players.

“It’s deceiving, because we have nine seniors, but only three of them are truly returning to the varsity level,” Weeks said. “The experience at the varsity level is not there. It’s a rebuilding process.”

Kirk and Byers will handle the pitching for the Lady Raiders with Kirk expected to take on most of the workload in the circle.

Freshman Felicity Hartley was expected to be a key contributor both as a pitcher and position player, but she tore her ACL in the first week of practice and is out for the season.

Returning sophomores ReNaa Hicks and Hadison Maxey will look to lead the offense at the top of the order with sophomore newcomer Haley Tucker projected to bat in the No. 3 spot.

“We hope to get at least one of them on and move them over,” Weeks said. “They’re both quick on the bases. Haley is doing a good job of putting the bunt down in that three spot. We want to execute the small game.”

Senior newcomers Aubrey Bailey and Aymette Mata have hit the ball well in the scrimmages, Weeks said.

Maxey will be the team’s starting catcher with Tucker also catching and playing second base. Hicks will move to third base this season for the Lady Raiders.

“We’ve done a good job defensively with the exception of one scrimmage,” Weeks said. “We had done a good job of backing each other up and making sure that if we make a mistake, it doesn’t get worse.”

Weeks said she wants to see her team fight, no matter what the scoreboard says.

“The No. 1 thing I’ve seen is the heart and grit the girls are showing,” Weeks said. “That’s one of things that really stuck out in our fall season and preseason tournament. It didn’t matter the score on the scoreboard, they never quit playing or trying to lift each other up. That’s something in any program I’ve been in over the years that I’ve tried to instill in my athletes is to keep fighting until the end.”

Following the opener at Nacogdoches, the Lady Raiders will play in the Frisco Tournament. The Lady Raiders will host Nacogdoches for their first home game on Feb. 17. Legacy will host the TASO Tournament Feb. 20 and 22 and the Rose City Classic Feb. 27-March 1. The District 10-6A opener will be March 4 at home against Rockwall-Heath.