Softball Season Preview
Despite a slow start to the 2019 season, the Bluefield College Lady Rams softball team is confident it can turn the season around with first-year head coach Drew Bailey.
After a 3-10 start to the season, Coach Bailey calls the 2019 campaign a “work in progress” and admits that it is not the start they wanted, but reminds his players the season is not over yet.
“The girls are working hard to improve every day” Coach Bailey said. “I think it is just a matter of time before we get over that hump.”
With only two seniors on the team — catcher Riley O’Neal and third baseman Mary Blake Avery — Coach Bailey turns to them to help lead the young squad.
“My two seniors encourage everybody to keep their head up and get extra work throughout the day, including after practices and in the mornings getting BP (batting practice) at the Dome,” the coach said.
O’Neal said she has not lost hope for the season and is practicing what she preaches for her Lady Rams squad.
“My expectations for this season for my team are for us to be the first softball team at Bluefield to earn our way to the conference tournament,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal is also taking her role as a leader on the team very seriously and is taking a Christian-based approach to her duties.
“For myself, I am going to do everything in my power to be a great leader for my teammates and someone they can look up to on and off the field,” O’Neal said, who added that being a leader is something special to her and she wants her legacy to be one where she always strives for the best for her team no matter the circumstance.
Sophomore third baseman, shortstop and pitcher (depending on where her team needs her at the time) Laken Sparks believes the season is not lost either.
“It is very early on in the season,” she said, “but I think that our team has already grown and we will continue to grow over the course of this season.”
Junior transfer from Barton County Community College Kristin Storer is on the same page, as well.
“This team has the potential to be very good with the talent of the returners and the ones Coach Bailey brought in,” Storer said. “If we all stay focused on our goal, I think we will be unstoppable.”
The Lady Rams will play their first home game of the year on March 22, a double-header against cross-town rival Bluefield State College.