The Lady Mocs softball team went 20-2 in the SoCon last year, yet they didn't win the league title. As UTC prepares for their season opener next week, they'll have to rely on several new faces, and a few extra pitchers.
Taylor Deason is the only returning pitcher for the Lady Mocs. Then again, there were only two pitchers on the team last year, which had everyone holding their breathe. Said infielder Kasey Tydingco,"Taylor tripped on somebody's bag and fell down or she tripped over a piece of rope or something, and all of us went, no!" Said Deason,"It was tough work, but this year we have five pitchers. A good staff this year. A lot of cushion, so we can rely on each this year. We have a great pitching staff."
There are 14 newcomers on the team this season, including nine freshmen. So don’t ask head coach Frank Reed for his starting lineup. "We're going to try to get our best nine hitters in the lineup, and then figure it out from there. Hopefully, they'll be able to plug them into the defensive positions."
Slugger Michelle Fuzzard is back. Only she’s a coach now. So the Lady Mocs must replace her team leading 16 homers from 2012. Said Tydingco,"We thought the same thing with Tiffany Baker when she was the homerun queen. She broke a bunch of records. And everybody was kind of freaking out about what we were going to do without her. But then last year we had Sarah Beth Roberts and Cheyenne Willis. Freshmen that stepped up with homeruns." Said infielder Sara Poteat,"This team is going to scrap. You may not see as much power or homeruns, but we're going to scrap for some runs."
Sara Poteat is back with her SoCon leading .437 batting average. But Poteat believes she can hit even better. "I want to hit .500 this year."
On top of her lofty average, the senior is still looking for her first career homerun. "It's a joke with me hitting and stuff. I'll just grunt a lot. It's funny. I'm going to hit a homerun though. I'll probably cart wheel around the bases."
