With softball season approaching quickly, Baker University’s team is preparing for the competition it will face this year and its hopes of moving up in the Heart of America Athletic Conference ranks.
“Last season we finished sixth, and our conference tournament was rained out so we didn’t get an opportunity to carry on,” coach Jennifer Rigdon said.
This season Rigdon hopes the team can move up and place in the top three in the conference tournament.
“We ultimately want to take the conference title, but to finish in the top two or three is one of our main goals,” Rigdon said.
Rigdon said the Wildcats will need a combination of a strong offense and a strong defense to be successful.
“We need to see things happen offensively at the plate, and defensively, just the strength of our pitchers and taking care of the ball. Overall, we just need to maintain cohesion and team chemistry,” Rigdon said.
Senior Kendra Cody said unity will be a key to being successful this season.
“It will take team chemistry,” Cody said. “Everybody has to be focused on softball and playing for each other.”
The team is young this year, and Rigdon said she is really looking not only to her seniors but to her underclassman as well to step up as team leaders.
“Definitely my two seniors, Kendra Cody and Leslie Kersting, will be stepping up as team leaders. I also have two freshman pitchers who will automatically be stepping up into a major role,” Rigdon said.
Cody said she is hoping her experience and work ethic will be motivation for the younger team members to follow in her footsteps.
“I plan to lead by using my experience. I know the teams and the players in the conference. I know the competition,” Cody said. “Also, by setting a good example in practice. We will only be as good as how hard we work, and I have to be the first to step up.”
Leadership skills on the team do not go unnoticed. Freshman Marriann Dugan said she is appreciative of the example the seniors have set.
“They are all really good leaders. They are hard workers, so we work hard. There is no slacking,” Dugan said. “I think it makes us a better team.”
With a young team, some freshmen said they are feeling the pressure of quickly making the transition to college-level competition.
“There is definitely added pressure because the seniors are leaders and you have to try to follow in their footsteps,” Dugan said. “They have all had experience, so you just have to get in the groove of things and do your best.”
Cody said the competition will be strong this year in general, but there are two teams the players especially see as rivals.
“Evangel and Mid-America – they’ve been tough competition since I was a freshman,” Cody said. “Our conference is strong; you really have to show up ready to play every game.”