Ask a softball fan and they’ll tell you that the road to the top of the SEC softball scene traditionally rolls through Gainesville, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, and Auburn. Oxford, Mississippi joined that list in 2017, and Texas A&M coach Jo Evans is on a mission to add College Station to the list sooner rather than later.
“I think we can make a run [at a conference championship],” Evans said. “The SEC will always have us ready to make a great run against the best teams in the postseason, and that’s what is most important to me… this year, we are a year older and stronger, and we have every bit of talent and skill necessary to finish in the upper tier of our conference. Why not win it?!”
Evans’ club reached the Women’s College World Series in 2017, and despite an early elimination from the tournament, the longtime Aggies head coach says that playing on the game’s biggest stage had a lot of benefits for her players.
“We did a great job with our backs against the wall,” Evans said. “I thought we were pretty fearless. I thought we really showed a lot of strong character during the World Series… the takeaway for me is that the first step to winning it all is just to get there. When I look over our season, I think of all of the ups and downs, that led to us having the confidence to manage some challenges. Really solid defense, pitching staff, and scored runs when we needed to score runs.”
“This next season, I see us getting better and I think defensively, we were a good ball club last year,” Evans said of her outlook on the 2018 campaign. “Defense was certainly one of our strengths. I see us getting stronger and better this year…. When you have a core of a team that understands exactly what it takes to get to the Women’s College World Series, that means a lot. We keep the focus on the hard work that it takes to be successful at this level and trying to impart that onto our freshmen and help them understand the hard work it requires, the talent and skill set that you have to have, and the sacrifices you have to make.”
The 2017 Aggie pitching staff saw three hurlers – Lexi Smith, Trinity Harrington, and Samantha Show – reach the 100-innings pitched mark. Evans expects more of the same in the circle in 2018: “I expect them to be even more proficient on the mound, to even have a better command of the strike zone. Show had some really bright spots for us last year. I can see her maturing on the mound and growing in her poise and presence. Harrington is continuing to refine her pitches and she has certainly shown that she has what it takes. Payton McBride gave us some really quality innings and we wouldn’t have been where we were without her. Lexi Smith, as well, and we return all of those pitchers. We have a deep pitching staff.”
On the offensive side of the ball, 2016 all-American Tori Vidales and Keeli Milligan are two players that Evans expects to lead her team’s batting order. “Vidales is very key for us,” Evans said. “Milligan has really had a great fall. She’s as quick as she has ever been and looks very good at the plate. She’s been a spark plug for us. [Kaitlyn] Alderink is so steady and is one of those players who is always on base… [Riley] Sartain had a breakout year last year and hit the long ball for us.”
“A player that I’ve seen breaking through this fall is [Sarah] Hudek,” Evans told us of the former converted baseball pitcher who joined the Aggies as a freshman outfielder in 2017. “She is stroking the ball very well.”
When asked to describe how she would describe a successful 2018 season, Evans was thoughtful. “It can’t just be about the WCWS, or you miss all the qualities of things that happen in the season that make it the season it is,” she said. “For it to be a success, I think it would be my team getting itself to the point where the players run the team. I show up and I put in that lineup and our players put in and understand what it takes and what they need to do… Obviously, our expectation is to be playing in the WCWS and make a run. We think that we have the talent to do that and we understand that lots of things have to fall into place. That’s my expectation. If that didn’t happen, I still won’t feel like we didn’t have a successful season if we play fearlessly. If we play at all times to win. If we play with great confidence. Those are the things that I expect. It will not be a successful season if our ball club is looking over its shoulder and worrying about getting back to the WCWS and being worried about having anxiety about that expectation.”
