Lady Flames' softball look to improve in 2015

Jan 29

Jan 29 Lady Flames' softball look to improve in 2015

By Chad Magee, Senior Reporter

Lee University fast-pitch softball is fast approaching with the opening game of the 2015 season at home against the Tigers of Hiwassee College on Saturday, Jan. 31.

The Lady Flames host Hiwassee College on January 31 and then travel to St. Augustine, Florida the first week of February to play in the Flagler College Tournament. They will take on Barton College in a double-header, Flagler College and Embry-Riddle University in the span of two days.

The Lady Flames ended the 2014 season with a nail biting one-run loss to Union University in the NCCAA Mid-East Region Tournament. The loss came in the third game of the same day after the Lady Flames had defeated Mississippi College 11-4, and Hiwassee College 8-0. With the loss came the end of the 2014 playoff run for the Lady Flames.

While it is a new season full of new opportunity, there may be some lessons that the Lady Flames can take from the experience in the playoffs last season.

'I know we were all exhausted during that day, but we all wanted to win so bad, which is what kept us in the game for as long as we were,' junior outfielder Lexie Dean said. 'We all fought hard for it, but we didn't come out winning how we wanted to. Looking back to that night it motivated me to want to do better this season because one day I'll be playing my last game ever. I think that keeping that feeling as a reminder of how last season ended is what's going to give us endurance to push through this year.'

The Lady Flames will have big shoes to fill with the loss of former NCCAA National Player of the Year in Ana Coscorrosa. In 2014, Coscorrosa finished her senior year with a team leading .471 batting average, along with a team leading .801 slugging percentage.

Beginning in 2016 Lee University will be making the move into the NCAA division, a process that has been in play for more than a year already.

'This is our last year of transition from the NAIA to the NCAA. We are playing our post season in the NCCAA again this year as a way to compete in post season competition through the transition,' Lady Flames Fast-Pitch Softball Head Coach Emily Russell said. 'These two years will be a launching for us into the NCAA landscape. We have to reestablish ourselves as what we want to be known for in the NCAA.'

While winning on the field is important to the Lady Flames, they also know how to win in the classroom. Fourteen of the eighteen players for the team in 2014 met or exceeded a GPA of 3.2, ten of which had a 3.6 or above.

The Lady Flames are not interested in settling for anything less than the best; they are aiming high this season.

'It won't be easy but the goal is to win conference and then go on to win the National Championship,' senior for the Lady Flames Dominique Hannah said.