East Mississippi set to begin 2016 softball slate this weekend at Pearl River-hosted tournament
The East Mississippi Community College softball team begins the 2016 campaign with a balanced roster of returnees and newcomers. The Lions will look to start blending that equal mix of experienced players and incoming talent this weekend, as their challenging opening month of the new season gets underway Friday at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Pearl River Community College.
SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball team begins the 2016 campaign with a balanced roster of returnees and newcomers. The Lions will look to start blending that equal mix of experienced players and incoming talent this weekend, as their challenging opening month of the new season gets underway Friday at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Pearl River Community College.
Beginning her fourth season at the EMCC softball helm, head coach Kyndall White brings back 11 players from last year's 15-19 squad and welcomes to campus a dozen first-year players. That proportional combination of freshmen and sophomores will immediately be tested by taking on perennial NJCAA Region 23 power LSU Eunice, ranked 10th nationally in the preseason, in 11 a.m. first-day tournament action in Poplarville.
The Lions are also scheduled to meet Baton Rouge Community College at 1 p.m. in opening-day tournament play, while concluding season-opening action Saturday by taking on Calhoun Community College and host Pearl River at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Expected to lead EMCC's group of returning players are sophomores Heather Abney (Center Hill HS) and Marissa Landrum (D'Iberville HS), who both batted over .300 as 32-game starters a year ago. Abney looks to hold down one of the starting outfield positions, while Landrum is back as the Lions' steady third baseman.
Also being counted on to maintain important roles on this year's squad are returning sophomores Emily Patrick (Senatobia) and Amandalyn Abney, who combined for 49 starts between them last season. Primarily used as a designated player but can also catch and play first base, Patrick hit .254 as a freshman. Abney, Heather's younger sister, will be asked to again secure the club's catching duties after starting 24 games behind the plate in 2015.
Other returning position players for East Mississippi include infielders Breanna Glass (Noxapater), Autumn Gilbert (D'Iberville), Molly McLeod (Clarkdale HS) and Jordyn Jackson (Hamilton) in addition to Scooba native Blake Rigdon in the outfield.
Along with the arrival of 12 new players to this year's roster, the Lions are greatly benefitting from the welcomed addition of current professional pitcher Alison Owen to the EMCC softball coaching staff. Having previously split four collegiate seasons in the competitive Southeastern Conference between Mississippi State and Georgia, along with having recently signed to pitch for a third season with the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league, Owen was brought on board by the Lions this past fall to exclusively work with EMCC's pitchers.
Owen has the luxury of working with a pair of returning pitchers in sophomore southpaw Valiree Blair (Richland) and right-hander Chandler Ellis (Vicksburg), who combined to make 16 starts in the circle for EMCC with two wins apiece last season. The Lions have also added transfer left-hander Zoie LaVergne (Rayne, La.), the younger sister of former East Mississippi pitcher/student assistant coach Amelia LaVergne, along with fellow incoming southpaws Ciara Steward (Bruce HS) and Madison Jacques (Rayne, La.) as well as right-hander Jordan Self (Lanett, Ala.).
In the field, the Lions have brought in eight new position players who figure to challenge for starting nods. Expected to lead the way for EMCC's newcomers are Union's Averi Pender, speedy Mallory Vance from West Lauderdale High School and versatile Kaitlyn Brannon (Cullman, Ala.). Also in the mix to see quality playing time as collegiate freshmen are East Webster product Kendall Wilkinson, Biloxi's Danielle Darmohray and Noxapater native Treasure Lynch, in addition to Tupelo's Rachel Rooney and Sydney Olander out of Germantown High School.
Following this weekend's season-opening tournament action at Pearl River, East Mississippi's month-long road schedule will also feature a Feb. 13 doubleheader at preseason second-ranked and reigning NJCAA Division II national runner-up East Central Community College. The following week, EMCC is set to participate in the two-day (Feb. 19-20) Rush Invitational, hosted by Meridian Community College.
The Lions will also begin their 14-date MACJC softball slate away from home by traveling to Mississippi Delta (March 1) and preseason seventh-ranked Jones County (March 4). Their other conference road doubleheaders will take them to Southwest Mississippi (March 13), Northeast Mississippi (March 30), Itawamba (April 5), East Central (April 8), and Mississippi Gulf Coast (April 16).
Kicked off by the team's 2016 home season opener, March 8 on the Scooba campus, against Holmes, East Mississippi will also play host to conference foes Copiah-Lincoln (March 11), Coahoma (March 16), Meridian (March 22), Pearl River (March 25), Hinds (April 2), and Northwest Mississippi (April 13) at the EMCC Softball Field.