With the month of February up and running, a few more sports will be added to a very busy sports schedule for Bulldog fans. One sport about to get back in the swing of things is softball. This year’s group features plenty of reasons to look forward to the season.
This includes senior catcher Chelsea Bramlett. Bramlett has been a starter for the Dawgs since she came in as a highly touted recruit her freshman year. She has been an All-American in all three of her seasons at Mississippi State, and was one of the 25 finalists for Player of the Year the previous two seasons.
One of Bramlett’s biggest honors was representing her country as a member of the national team that brought home the gold in the Canada Cup, World Cup and the Japan Cup this summer. After bettering her numbers offensively and playing stronger defense in each season up to this point, she has set the bar pretty high for her last season in Starkville.
Bramlett said she has big things in mind for the team as well.
“I think we’re young, but we have a lot of talent,” she said. “I think we can go as far as we want to. We’re expecting to make regionals and the SEC tournament, and we expect to win it. It’s just a matter of taking it game by game.”
Another important role for the Dawgs is played by infielder Jessie Bailey. Paired with Bramlett, the two represent the team’s entire senior class. Despite the lack of seniors, Bramlett said she thinks the team has a healthy mix of youth and experience.
“I think it is a healthy balance. We’ve definitely got more young ones than we have in the past but I think overall it’s a good balance.”
Bailey said being a team leader is not a responsibility she takes lightly.
“We both try to set good examples for everyone else and be good leaders,” she said. “I think they look to us on the field and off the field and hopefully we provide good leadership for everyone.”
Both seniors have great expectations for their last season as Bulldogs, and Bailey said the sky is the limit for this team.
“This is definitely the most talented team I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here,” she said. “It’s the most depth we’ve had, especially in our pitching staff, and really just everywhere. A lot of our players that were injured last year are back and at 100 percent, so we’re just really excited looking forward to the season.”
Bailey and her teammates are excited about the season, but most excited is head coach Jay Miller, who said the depth of his team will be a key factor.
“We start each season with the same goals: win the SEC, qualify for the NCAA tournament and advance to the World Series. Those don’t change,” he said. “I think in terms of looking at our club this year, this is the strongest ball club we’ve ever had, and it’s the deepest team we’ve ever had, by far, both on the mound and in the field.”
With so much talent and experience on the team, Miller said he sees the potential for big things.
“I think it has the chance to do something pretty special,” he said. “I think everyone is looking forward to the season. Our offseason work has been great and I feel pretty good about where we are now.”
Miller himself is coming off of an offseason where he joined Bramlett as the head coach of the U.S. National team, but both are looking forward to kicking off play at MSU.
The season will begin in Starkville this weekend as the Bulldogs host UAB, Stephen F. Austin and North Texas in the Bulldog Round Robin.
Miller said the games this weekend are very important as the team has not had real game experience in quite some time.
“I think it’s very important,” he said. “We’re at the point where everybody’s tired of practicing; everybody’s anxious and chomping at the bit for the season to get here. We need to play against someone other than ourselves right now. We need ball games against other teams.”
Miller said his team needs game action to get in the right mindset, and said they can learn a lot about what where they stand in comparison to other teams.
“It’ll help us prepare and help us get better,” he said. “For us to get better, we need to play other teams and see where we are to get a measuring stick of where we’re at and see what we need to work on.”