On Monday, August 21, Baker announced that Sam White would be the man in charge of the Women’s Softball team this season. Last year, under head coach Dana Goss, the Wildcats tied the program record at an outstanding 47-12 and was able to clinch the Heart of America Conference Regular Season Championship. The Baker Softball’s season unfortunately came to an end when losing to the No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett 6-2, in the elimination game of the 2023 NAIA College World Series in Columbus, Ga. White has big shoes to fill, but many players are excited about what White has to bring to the table with all the success that he holds.
White is nowhere new to coaching as he has 20 years of coaching softball under his belt. Although White hasn’t ever been a part of a team in the Midwest, he is very familiar with the NAIA conference. Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), Wallace College (Ala.), and Faulkner State Community College (Ala.) were just a few colleges in which he served in many different coaching capacities.
As a head coach success may be an understatement as his overall record is 57-15. Even as an assistant coach his overall record still stands at an outstanding 641-156. In addition, White also has coached 44 All-Americans and doesn’t seem to plan on stopping- 9 of which were pitchers, and 22 that were Academic All-Americans released by bcrams.com.
“He is very organized and very excited to get started,” Junior outfielder Madi Byerley said. “He has high expectations and aspirations for this team and believes we can be very successful again this year.”
Sophomore second basemen, Jayda Logan says that he constantly reminds the team that he is very blessed to be a part of this program and has realized that each and every one of them has high standards for this season. However, he understands the different aspects of the team that need to be improved but there is nothing that this team can’t handle.
In an interview with Baker Athletics, White says that Baker is one of the places “that catches your eye with all of their competitive athletic programs, and I look forward to continuing that aspect with the softball program…” and is excited to be the newest addition to the Baker family.
“Coach White and his staff have shown their dedication to this program for the short time they have been here, and I believe with hard work and investment in each other our team will be very successful,” Byerley said.
The team did have a couple of gaps to fill this season with players with utility players, Parker Straight and Emma Ancira that contributed a fifth of the teams runs last season. Along with Pitcher/Infielder Sydney Goss, that played all but five games and a few other players that followed former coach Dana Goss.
Byerley admitted that there are holes to be filled this season but has confidence in the new freshman and transfers to help bring this program back to the NAIA College World Series and excel altogether.
Logan had similar thoughts when asking her about the positions that needed to be filled and “did take a hit on our pitching staff, but our number one pitcher is still her [Kira Baker] and I think our newcomers are just as strong as our graduated players…”
“Personally, I’ve been itching to get back on the field with my team and back into the routine”, Logan said. “Coach has really been emphasizing on the offense side of the game and I think he has some great ideas on how to enhance what we are capable of…”.
On the other hand, Byerley suffered an injury last season that cut her season short. “One specific thing I’m excited for is have the opportunity to get into some games after coming off a long injury and play for Coach White…”.
Only time can tell what this new squad has in line for this season with new additions in staff, transfers, and incoming freshmen. Coach White seems to have already built a sense of culture within his program before the season starts and in hopes of bringing the program back to the NAIA World Series but coming back to Baker with some hardware in their hands.
