Marshalltown High School’s new softball coach watched as much video as he could find of his Bobcat players. Not to analyze the past, but rather to help him map out a path to progress.

Jason Bowers almost didn’t accept the MHS softball job, he said, but eventually decided to take it after meeting with some of the returning players and finding an opportunity to make a needed impact in helping the program move past its past.

“I think that’s ultimately why I took the job,” he said. “I accepted this challenge and I almost didn’t take it, but after the interview I met with some of the kids and you could just see they needed something. They needed a change, and I felt like I’m the person just because — and I’m not saying anything bad about previous regimes — I think I do things differently and I try to coach the kid and not necessarily the sport and I think that pays off.

“I think the kids are enjoying themselves and having fun.”

Bowers was an assistant coach at East Marshall under Jary Hoskey prior to accepting Marshalltown’s head position. He inherits a Bobcat history that includes single-digit wins for each of the last nine seasons, but he hasn’t had time to worry about the past. Marshalltown opens the new year tonight with a game at Newton.

In order to expedite the process of picking up the pieces from last year’s two-win season, he got a leg-up by watching as many game films as he could find of his current roster.

“We started with open gymns and the open gym numbers weren’t quite what I expected,” Bowers said, “but some kids came in, they got to learn what type of person I am, what type of coach I am, and that spread a little bit and we got some better numbers.

“And I watched every game I could online — YouTube, archived games — I watched as much as I could to get an idea, but honestly I just went at it as, and I told the girls this, that it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t really care where you played last year or the previous years, I want to see where I think you should be and then we’ll move you around.”

The Bobcats return 13 players with varsity experience, although all the old stats have been thrown out the window. Bowers is giving Marshalltown a fresh start.

“We talk about going forward and we talked about that from the beginning,” he said. “I’ve made an acronym, it’s called FAST: Forward, Aggressive, Smart, Together, and when we make a mistake I want us to think about that acronym. I haven’t really talked about last season. We’re moving forward.”

The Bobcats will do that behind its three senior captains: Ava Augustine, Reagan Ford and Kristin Hays. Marshalltown has just five seniors on its roster and these three were the coach-approved appointees by their peers.

“They’re hard workers,” Bowers said. “Ava is the most coachable kid maybe that I’ve ever been around, because I do things a little differently than what they’re used to and she tries them and does the things I ask. Kristin is hardcore. Her walk-up song is supposed to be ‘Seek and Destroy’ by Metallica, so that just tells you the kind of kid she is. Reagan — I didn’t like the way she fielded a ground ball so we’ve been working really, really hard at that and she’s embraced it and has come a long way in three weeks in just her technique.

“They hold everybody accountable for attitude and effort.”

Gabby McWherter and Holly Stolzman round out the seniors on the roster, which will also feature a large group of freshmen and eighth-graders this season.

“There’s some really good softball players there,” Bowers said of the younger group. “The lineups as the year goes on will be a mix of all of that. Our starting lineup is going to have eighth-graders on it.”

Marshalltown’s home opener will be a doubleheader against Mason City on Thursday night.