Experience is defined as “the involvement in something over time.”
In 2005, the Mississippi State softball team sported a team filled with 15 freshmen and sophomores. Experience over time was something the squad lacked. 2005 was a year dubbed as a rebuilding year by head coach Jay Miller.
“We weren’t expecting a whole lot, and then we had injuries on top of that, making it even tougher in terms of competing,” Miller said of a 35-31 season last year.
The Lady Dawgs finished with a 12-18 Southeastern Conference record, finishing just above Ole Miss and Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference West standings.
Only three players from last year’s squad will be missed this year, but as Miller puts it, it’s not who will be missed. It’s who will step up now.
“Obviously,” Miller said, “the leadership, as well as the offensive punch, is going to be hard to replace, but we had some of those same questions last year and people stepped up. I fully expect that to happen again this year. With the kids that we have returning, they should be able to step up and fill those holes very well.”
Second baseman Callye Williams is the lone senior on MSU’s 2006 roster.
Sharing the line-up with six freshmen, Williams will provide leadership and reliability throughout this campaign.
“Our seniors typically have their best season of their career in their last year,” Miller said. “That’s really what I expect out of Callye. She’s been very strong defensively for us, and her maturity and leadership will really help us, especially in the infield. I really see her having a breakout year offensively as well.”
Williams’s partner across from second base will be first team all-American Courtney Bures, who boasted a stellar freshman season for the Lady Bulldogs.
Bures took home the SEC’s Freshman of the Year award, freshman all-SEC honors and MSU’s MVP, Top Hitter and Rookie of the Year titles. Bures hit at a solid .388 last season with 17 homeruns.
“It’s hard to have a better freshman year than Courtney had last year,” Miller said. “I think she is a tremendous athlete both offensively and defensively. I don’t think there’s anybody better than her in the country at shortstop.”
Playing behind Bures and Williams in centerfield will be redshirt sophomore Hayle Guess. Guess suffered torn cartilage in her left shoulder last year, forcing her to undergo surgery.
However, Miller believes that Guess will bounce back to lead the team and anchor the outfield and the base path, being the fastest player on the team.
The pitching circle will be manned by the sophomore-junior tandem of Stephanie Comeaux and Ragan Blake, who boast an average 2.65 ERA in their combined careers.
“Stephanie Comeaux and Ragan Blake have both stepped up and improved considerably from last year,” Miller said. “They have some experience under their belt now, and I think experience at this level is tough to get. It’s important to our team.”
Catching for the Bulldog pitching staff will be junior Blair Geddings, who has battled injuries throughout her entire career. She didn’t play at all in the fall, with Miller hoping rest would let her heal and become as strong as possible. Geddings’s career batting average sits at .264, and Miller believes that “there’s nobody better calling games behind the plate.”
The combination of Geddings, Comeaux/Blake, Williams, Bures and Guess make up a middle defense to be reckoned with.
“The middle is where you want to be very strong,” Miller said. “And I think we’ve got that covered pretty well.”
The Lady Dawgs have already begun their 2006 campaign, and were able to do so on the right foot. Sweeping the tournament, going 5-0, the Lady Dawgs took home top honors at South Florida’s Best Western Invitational last weekend.
“Obviously, winning the first tournament is a lot better than losing it,” Miller said. “It gives our ball club a lot of confidence. It was a great start for us. Not only winning, but the way we won. We got dominant pitching performances all weekend, and the entire line-up was hitting the ball, top to bottom.”
After having hovered above and around .500 last season, Miller said that his goals for the team rarely, if ever, change.
“Our goals are pretty much the same every year,” he said. “We want to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. We want to win the SEC West and the overall SEC. We want to win the SEC Tournament and qualify for postseason play, then eventually win the Regionals, Super-Regionals and the College World Series.”