COLONY — Forgive Dakotah Sporing if he has a Gertrude Lawrence song stuck in his head this spring.

Lawrence, the stage and screen legend, earned a Tony award for her performance, partly with her powerful rendition of the Broadway standard “Getting To Know You,” from “The King And I.”

There will be a lot of getting to know his players as Sporing takes the reins of the Crest High softball program.

For one, half of Crest’s roster will have entered the season with minimal practices under their belt — for good reason.

The Lady Lancers basketball squad’s magical run to the Class 1A-I State Tournament kept a big chunk of the talent focused on the hardwood for the first two weeks of the spring sports practice season. Tack on a weeklong spring break, and some players likely will have laced up their cleats for the first time in 2025 just as the regular season launched.

“I’ve told the basketball girls that they can’t talk too much about softball yet,” Sporing laughed. “Take care of the basketball first. But the ones I’ve talked to are excited about it.”

Crest’s 12-strong roster has plenty of returning talent, led by senior Delaney Ramsey.

Ramsey was having a solid junior campaign until she broke her ankle while sliding into second base last year. “She’s excited to be back,” Sporing said.

Ramsey batted .400 (14 of 35) with four doubles, three triples and 12 RBIs, while scoring 13 runs over 14 games, good enough to earn All-Three Rivers League recognition.

Junior McKenna Powell showed flashes of power in 2024 with two home runs.

On top of those, Kinley Edgerton and Kaelin Nilges showed improvement on the diamond last year and should make an impact this season, Sporing predicted.

“We have some talented athletes,” Sporing said. “It’s up to me to figure where they fit best into the system, and to build on their strengths.”

Topping the list will be to determine a pitching staff.

“I told the girls everyone is gonna pitch until we get it figured out,” he chuckled. “We’re gonna figure it out together.”

Sporing has plenty of diamond coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach the last three seasons for the Lancer baseball team.

His softball experience?

“The most I know from softball is from watching my sister play,” he laughed. “There’s definitely a lot to learn, but I’m excited. It’s a new challenge.”

The four or five girls who have been regular attendees at practices in the early going leave him optimistic.

“They’ve been working hard, gotten a lot of reps, and they’re excited,” he said. “We’re building a little momentum.”