By Long Beach State softball head coach Kim Sowder spent the offseason taking in her first season at the helm, which was filled with ups and downs. One thing taken from the team last season was a spot at the NCAA Regionals, a shocking ending despite LBSU winning series matchups against four of the five conference teams selected.
But Sowder is not surprised at the team’s response to last year’s 28-25 record. With three of the team’s top hitters from 2007, including the reigning Big West freshman pitcher of the year, the softball team is more than ready to prove that it belongs in the NCAA Regionals.
“Getting a team back is a coach’s dream,” Sowder said. “We have great leadership on the field and great energy.”
Leadership is something Sowder will expect the team to have this season. Senior shortstop Jessica Beaver fits the bill for that role for this season. Beaver finished last season with a team-best .356 hitting percentage, along with 10 home runs. The All-Big West Conference second team selection is now third in career home runs with 15 and is on pace to break Lauren Johnson’s record of 24.
Another projected leader is senior Whitney Radcliff, whom Sowder described as “quite a competitor.” Radcliff, who plays second base, is a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College and did well in her first season as a 49er in 2007. She recorded a team-high 54 hits while batting .355, and was 9-9 in stolen bases. In one year, Radcliff went from junior college honors to a 2007 all-Big West Conference honorable mention.
Hitting, as a whole, will be no problem for the 49ers. Pitching, despite last season’s depleted lineup, will be better than it was in 2007 because one player made that possible.
Big West freshman pitcher of the year Bridgette Pagano stepped up to the plate in more ways than one, as she won 20 games with a 1.65 ERA. Pagano also had 10 shutouts, but one of those shutouts made LBSU history, as she threw the program’s first no-hitter in a 7-0 non-conference win over Brown University on March. 27.
Sowder had nothing but praise from the freshman phenom.
“Having a freshman pitcher, we had to make a lot of changes,” Sowder said. “We had a completely new pitching staff. Lacy Tyler’s a left-fielder, but we had her pitch.”
Tyler made her attempt to fill the void when Michelle Turner went down via injury, but only had one win in seven starts. Tyler’s place was at-bat, where she scored 27 runs and batted .315. She also had 10 doubles and earned all-Big West Conference second team honors.
Pagano’s arm was the best at the mound for the 49ers, and Sowder is sure she will be even better in her second season.
“Bridgette is only a sophomore, but she gained a lot of experience,” Sowder said.
And experience could be just what gets LBSU over the top in the conference standings. Former player Panita Thanatharn, who graduated last spring, has returned to the softball team as an assistant coach while second-year assistant coach Tairia Flowers will be on leave. Flowers is going to compete for the U.S. Olympic team, which is training for this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
Sowder, however, has been very confident about the team’s newest players. Junior infielder Jennifer Griffin is a transfer from Tennessee, which finished second in last year’s Women’s College World Series. Griffin played 43 games and hit .306, and scored three home runs.
Junior infielder/outfielder Danielle Linke transferred from Mt. San Antonio College, which captured the California State Community softball championship last year. Linke was excellent on defense last season; she made only one error out of 255 chances. She also batted .391 and hit four home runs and 33 RBI.
The pitching staff will have the services of freshman pitcher Brooke Turner, the sister of former player Michelle Turner. The younger Turner had a stellar career at Kennedy High School in La Palma, Calif., where she posted an 84-18 career record with an 0.31 ERA and 1,069 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, freshman outfielder Casey Burba has been a speedster between plates. She led the team in stolen bases all four years at Cypress High School.
An array of talent from top to bottom has Sowder very optimistic about 2008, despite the tough non-conference and conference schedules.
“Conference is going to be tough like every season,” Sowder said. “We have a non-conference schedule that will get our RPI [rating percentage index] up. But I definitely think we have strong hitters, and our defense is back. I definitely expect us to be stronger.”
Beginning the season on a high note is something Sowder said she hopes to have accomplished this year. The team began last season with a 4-10 record, and things will not be as easy for the 49ers this season, especially with early games against Stanford, Northwestern, Hawaii and UCLA.
Sowder, however, has remained unmoved by what her team can achieve this season. The second-year head coach is as energetic as her team, and the goal is set for 2008: get to the postseason.
