If you really want to know what the weather is going to be like, ask Parkland softball coach Barry Search. He learned to forecast weather while in the military and he learned it well. He doesn’t need radar or fancy gadgetry to forecast weather, he just looks at the sky and tells you what’s going to happen. He did that Monday after a scrimmage against Hazleton when he challenged his players to identify the type of clouds overhead.

Before his lesson on clouds, Search put together another forecast about his team, which he’s coached for the past eight seasons.

“I think we have our work cut out for us this year,” said Search with a smile. “It’s a good group, a good group of kids.”

Parkland lost seven players to graduation following last season and the Trojans’ coach still isn’t quite sure who is going to fill in those spots, but he’s trusting that players will step up and claim a position as their own. One of the big spots to fill is on the mound where the soft-spoken Aubree Fritzinger just worked her magic. She also started to become more of a force offensively last season, giving an extra punch to the Parkland lineup.

With Fritzinger now pitching for DeSales University, Kelly Dulaney will take over on the mound for Parkland.

“Aubree was one of the best that I’ve ever played with because of her composure and she’s so hard to replace,” said Trojan senior Chelsea Morgan. “But Kelly is also one of the best I’ve ever played with and her humility is going to take her pretty far,” said senior Chelsea Morgan, who is looking forward to finding out what this younger version of Parkland softball can achieve this season.

Dulaney will be the go-to-girl, but Search has some other options when she needs a rest if games start to back up.

“Basically, we have Kelly as our main pitcher and our second pitcher can do a pretty nice job, too,” said Search. “We also have a real nice JV pitcher if we need her. It’s a learning experience, but they’ll get it.”

Parkland finished last season 25-2 and won its fourth straight conference championship but fell short of making it four straight championships in District 11 when the Trojans were knocked off by Liberty.

While this year’s team is going to be younger, it doesn’t mean that other teams should be counting Parkland out of the running.

Search hasn’t had a losing season since coming to Parkland and it’s not likely that he’s going to start now.

“We’re very excited, but of course there were a lot of great seniors last year who are really hard to replace,” said Morgan. “But we’re working hard at practice. There’s a lot of competition to see who the best nine are and who is going to step up, but it’s a healthy competition.”

Parkland opens its season Saturday with a visit to Spring-Ford before facing Bethlehem Catholic next Wednesday for their EPC opener.

As for those clouds on Monday, they were altocumulus clouds with a mackerel sky, which Search told his players meant precipitation is less than 24 hours away.

About 20 hours later, snow started to fall in the Lehigh Valley. Now, we just have to see if Search’s somewhat tempered forecast for his team holds true.