RICHMOND – A crop of first-year high schoolers caused a spike in softball turnout, Spartans varsity coach Staci Maddux said. There were 28 girls in the program when practices started around midnight Aug. 9 at Southview Park – up 10 from 2020, when Richmond’s varsity club finished 11-10, Maddux reported. That included 12 first-year high schoolers. “And everybody else came back that we had last year,” she said. Six seniors, including returners Jaedyn Lopez and Lexi Bokarae, are on the team. Senior Jodi Robinson returned after a year’s absence, Maddux said. “She didn’t feel like she could give softball what it deserved last year,” she said. “But I talked her into coming back and … giving me what she could this year. She’s a great leader. But then, … all six of them are tremendous leaders.” Lopez welcomed the pressure of being a team leader. “We’ve worked hard to get to this place,” she said. The number of seniors is up from 2020, when there were only two. Lopez and Bokarae expect…