Lakewood Ranch High softball makes Gould-en hire

A former Mustangs softball star has returned to the stable. 

Taylor Gould, known as Taylor "Fig" Newton when playing for Lakewood Ranch High, was publicly named the softball program's head coach on Aug. 7 — though Gould said the deal was actually done by the time the program held its end-of-season banquet in May. 

Gould will take over the Mustangs from Todd Lee, who was the bench boss for one season following the retirement of T.J. Goelz, who led the team to back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022. 

Gould is a 2013 graduate of Lakewood Ranch. As a junior, Gould led the Mustangs to the Florida High School Athletic Association state Final Four by hitting .379 with 11 doubles, four triples and three home runs. But her star did not stop shining after she left the Mustangs.

Gould played for James Madison University and graduated from the Dukes in 2017 as the school's all-time RBI leader with 181, though she has since been passed by Kate Gordon (200). Gould, an outfielder, also finished her college career with a .325 average, 39 doubles, nine triples and 37 home runs while making just six errors in the field. 

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For Gould, the opportunity to come back to the Mustangs was a case of timing. She had never considered getting into coaching prior to 2020, but after her JMU career ended in 2017, she was burned out.

When Lee, who at the time was coaching the Mustangs' junior varsity team, reached out on a whim to see if Gould wanted to act as an occasional assistant coach, she agreed. While volunteering, Gould said she began to "feel the itch" of softball again. She missed being around the game, and for the first time, began to think about a potential future with the program. 

When Lee took the varsity job in 2023, Gould continued to volunteer and formed close bonds with the Mustangs, especially the seniors returning in 2024. When Lee told Gould he would be stepping down following the season, the job "fell into her lap." 

The chance to dig deeper into the bonds she formed with the varsity squad was one reason Gould agreed to steer the program full-time. 

"It's about giving back to the community," Gould said. "When you're successful, you want others to have that same success. It's carrying on the legacy of what was already done here. I want the girls to have a great experience, and winning is a part of that, but it's not everything. It's the icing on the cake." 

Gould said her primary focus will be making sure her players are following the culture she sets, namely being good teammates. To Gould, that means supporting each other in the ups as well as the downs, but also doing the simple things in practice, like picking up balls at the end of the drill, without being asked, as well as implicitly trusting each other.

If someone strikes out with the bases loaded, Gould said, there cannot be any doubt that the player will come through next time she's in a big spot. The players should support each other with that in mind. 

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Is Gould feeling any pressure to return the program to a state title game?

"No," she said. If the Mustangs act like Gould wants them to act, success will follow. Heart can prevail over talent — though having talent does help.

They'll have some talent in 2024, though the team will inevitably look different. The Mustangs graduated six players from last year's team; and only seven players will remain from the program's championship team in 2022. Only two of those players saw significant playing time during the title run.

Thankfully for Lakewood Ranch, those two players are elite — senior pitcher Ella Dodge, a University of Tennessee commit, was the Class 7A Player of the Year in 2022, and senior outfielder Grace Shaw-Rockey hit .345 with 21 RBIs in 2023. 

How quickly can Gould get the team's arrow pointing up? It's a question that will not be fully answered until the team takes the field this spring, but Gould has fans in the Lakewood Ranch community, including Lee, who said he had a recent lunch with Gould to catch up. Lee said he believes Gould will be a "great hire" and keep the team's recent success going. 

Gould said the team will begin offseason conditioning drills in a few weeks. She's excited to see the team in person, she said, and begin the long road to the 2024 season, which begins in February. If winning is the icing, offseason training and creating the trust that Gould desires is the cake. 

"It's going to be a new chapter, but we'll build it on what has been established at Lakewood Ranch," Gould said. "When you're a female athlete who has played at every level, you get a sense of how to approach coaching a team. At the same time, every team is different. There will be some trial and error. But I'm going to use an approach that stems from a love of the game. We're going to be super competitive."