GEORGETOWN, Texas – They may only be in their sixth year of competition but no other team has made a bigger splash than Southwestern softball. The 2014 squad is looking to make a run through NCAA Regionals and into the World Series this season and has the perfect mix of talent, passion and camaraderie needed to realize those goals.
Nearly every infield and outfield starter returns from last years' SCAC Championship team including three seniors, Karen Ramirez. Kayla Irvin, and Tessa Galloway. This heavily decorated class has set the expectation of excellence.
"We have great senior leadership," said Head Coach Angela Froboese. "Karen had one of her best years last year and we will lean on her even more this season. Tessa takes command in the outfield and her value defensively is often underestimated by opponents and Kayla is our only returner on the mound and is great at spotting innings and is going to serve a huge role as a reliever this season as well as at the plate.
Three juniors have also taken up leadership roles and are an important component to this squad. Ashleigh Scott, Stacy Rosengren and Linsay Biggers have ample experience and will continue to be difference makers. "Our juniors help a ton with leadership," said Coach Froboese. "They act like seniors and two have been named captains by their teammates."
Offensive power has never been a concern for the Pirates and this season is no exception. Last year SU was sixth in the nation with a .360 team batting average, fourth in doubles at four per game and seventh in slugging percentage (.520). All-Region picks Ramirez and Galloway lead at the plate. Ramirez was fifth in the nation in doubles per game last year and had a .396 batting average while Galloway was in the top 100 nationally in doubles and RBI's while posting a .399 batting average. Irvin narrowly trailed with a .377 batting average, but the biggest potential threat comes from sophomore Christina Crandall who led SU with a .429 batting average in a pinch hitter role. In 28 at bats she had 12 hits with eight RBI's and will help fill the void of last year's offensive power.
"Our hitting has been really strong and we have the capability to produce a lot of runs," stated Coach Froboese. "We have a lot of power this year that I am really excited about."
On the defensive side of the coin, Coach Froboese is looking for her defense to be more consistent. "We want to lock things up on defense. We are capable of making big plays but we still have to work on making the little things happen."
"Solid defense is what is going to take this team deep in the playoffs where we will have to win 1-0 games. Last year we were able to out hit everyone but there are going to be some games where we aren't going to be able to do that and we need our defense to take control of those games."
"We are two deep at each position and we may have a different line up every game this year. My biggest problem right now is that I don't know who our starters are going to be. If someone is having an off day we have someone that can come in and raise the level of play and that is keeping everyone on their toes."
Part of that depth comes in the form of eight first years and five sophomores who have already bought into the Southwestern work ethic. "This is the hardest working team I have ever coached and that is hard to teach," said Froboese. "They all came back in shape and so we have been full steam ahead."
With just one returner on the mound the Pirate pitching and catching staff is the biggest unknown for SU. "Our first years have done a remarkable job of working hard and taking in every word we say," said Froboese. "They are making adjustments and want to be successful. We have seen the improvements from fall to spring and getting game experience is going to be crucial for them. We hope we can give them that run support early on, but as long as they are hitting their spots I know they can be very successful."
Even with a young staff Coach Froboese didn't pull any punches when putting together her pre-conference schedule, knowing they needed to see top tier teams to prepare for an even tougher conference this season. "We want to make sure we are playing well early in the season as those teams are very similar to our conference," said Coach Froboese. "The Oregon schools (Pacific and George Fox) are in a very difficult conference and are going to be a great challenge for us. They have beat ranked teams in the past and are very similar to us."
Southwestern has eight non-conference series, starting with Pacific on February 9th, before diving into an expanded Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule. This year marks the first season Texas Lutheran and Schreiner join the fray. "I think our conference is going to be so much tougher this year," stated Froboese. "Everyone has gotten better and TLU and Schreiner have a different mindset coming from the ASC (American Southwest Conference). TLU has a huge roster and is a team that is gunning for us as they were regionally ranked ahead of us last year. Schreiner has a new coach and has always been a scrappy team. The style of play is a little bit different and will make for tough games for everyone in conference."
"Anyone can beat you on any given day in our conference so every game matters. You can't rely on winning conference so we want to play well early in the season. This team is aware that they have not accomplished anything yet and they have been working with something to prove. If we play like we are capable of then no one will be able to beat us but we have been known to beat ourselves. If we can get over that then I think we are going to be in great shape."
"We want to be national contenders and have been on the outside looking in. We are no longer a new program. People know who we are and what we are capable of and we aren't going to surprise teams anymore and that is a whole new challenge for us."
Southwestern has the intangibles, however, that will be the force to propel them to greatness. "This team loves the game. They have enthusiasm for the sport but the determination to be great."