The Pampa Lady Harvesters will have a lot of new faces this season as they head into the 2026 season, starting at the top with Head Coach Denise Browning.
Browning is a 2003 graduate of Pampa High School and worked at the high school in 2013. A coach with 16 years of experience, she most recently was in East Texas at Apple Springs and even coached at 4A’s Graham. Now she returns to her alma mater to lead a softball program that graduated seven seniors with perennial playoff appearances.
“We have two returning seniors (Hallie Reynolds and Ella Hudson), two juniors, and a couple of sophomores,” Browning said. “We’re super young, with a lot of freshmen that’ll be on varsity this year and a lot of sophomores. We have some girls who have never played before. We’ve got a girl who had never touched a ball before the offseason, and she made varsity. We’re going to be a young squad and have a rebuilding year before.”
The focus in scrimmages, practice, and non-district is to get this young squad as many reps as possible. Browning said she scheduled a tough non-district schedule to get the
Lady Harvesters have as much experience against storied programs as possible.
“We’re going to Midland Feb. 19-21 and Iowa Park the next weekend, Feb. 26-28,” Browning said. “I wanted to get in some games against reputable opponents and get time in to learn the game and the speed of the game and get experience.”
Along with experience, Browning wants the young players see some of the intangible and invaluable traits powerhouse programs exhibit.
“I want them to see some teams that have the seniors, experience, and mentality of the game,” Browning said. “I want them to see what some of those teams that are successful look like. What do their dugout behaviors look like? What they look like on the field. What they look like when they are up to bat.
“When you’re that young, you just haven’t experienced it. I want them to get some of the experiences of those big games, and even when we’re not playing, watching them.”
The Lady Harvesters had a scrimmage on Friday against Bushland. While they were short-handed, Browning was pleased with the fight the Lady Harvesters showed.
“They never gave up, worked hard and I never saw any fear in their eyes,” Browning said. “They just got up there, went to work and did what they could. They didn’t let the score bother them. They just went in and played any position I asked them to. They are willing to do whatever it takes to make the team work.
“We had some really good hits and some really good plays. Right now it’s about going through these scrimmages and seeing who fits best where.”
As for the District, the Lady Harvesters share a district with Canyon, Randall, West Plains, Hereford, Dumas, Borger, and Perryton.
“Dumas is a powerhouse, Randall is a powerhouse, and really all of the teams we play are teams we can compete against if we go into it with a ready mind,” Browning said. “I think we can beat anybody. But if we go into it timid and think we are a rebuilding team, then we may have a difficult time. I definitely think there are teams we can jump up and get, and we may be surprised at how good we are.
“I always tell my girls that by the second time in district we should be able to beat anybody. I want that confidence for the girls. We may have the confidence and not succeed, but at least we are out there doing our best.”
The Lady Harvesters return to action at 4 p.m. on Friday against Sunray for their final scrimmage before hosting Dalhart at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday to open non-district play.
Reynolds and Junior Michelle Gallegos will be the primary pitchers for Pampa this season, with some younger arms joining the rotation later.
Browning is excited for the season to start as a Harvester returning home.
“Being a Pampa girl, it has always been my dream to come back home and take over this program,” Browning said. “So I appreciate Coach (Floyd) White and the admin here. It brings a special take to the Harvester pride and what a Harvester program is.
“I’m excited to lead by example but also build these girls into the program we know and love and remember. We’re going to work hard and our motto this year is ‘One team, one family.’ We want from the bottom up to be one family, one team, and build those bricks up to be the program we want to build.”