By Christian Malone
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State’s softball team has traveled to Mississippi with one big goal in mind: winning the Gulf South Conference championship.
The Lady Blazers, who are 51-6 and ranked No. 5 in the nation, begin their quest for the conference title today, when they face Ouachita Baptist at noon Central time in Southaven, Miss. on the opening day of the GSC tournament.
“If they’ll keep doing what they’ve been doing, anything can happen for them. I really think they write their own story,” Valdosta State head coach Thomas Macera said about his team. “They’ve played phenomenal ball (in nearly every game) this year. They’ve (killed) the ball. We haven’t been shut out. We’ve always found a way to score runs.... I can’t be more proud of them. I hope they can win something, just because they’ve worked so hard, and I think they’ve earned it.”
If they beat Ouachita, the Lady Blazers would face either West Florida or Arkansas-Monticello at 7:30 p.m. The tournament is double elimination, so the teams that lose will move into the loser’s bracket.
Losing has been rare, though, for the Lady Blazers. They have won 27 of their last 28 games.
If Las Vegas were to place odds on the GSC tournament, it would likely have Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, the No. 1 team in Division II, squaring off in the finals. After all, the two perennial Gulf South powers are both ranked in the top 5 in the country, are the top two teams in the South region and have the best conference records. VSU (23-2) won the East Division by one game over UAH (22-3), though the teams split their two meetings earlier this month in Valdosta.
But Macera points out that there are a lot of other teams standing in the way of both his team and two-time defending GSC champion Lady Chargers.
“The way the brackets are set up, if we win the first game, our second game is (potentially) West Florida, which is no pushover. Right now, Arkansas Tech’s playing real well, and Huntsville’s got to see them. I don’t think that’s a walkaway for them,” VSU’s coach said. “Whoever gets hot wins these tournaments.”
A year ago, VSU and UAH were the two favorites, but VSU was upset by Arkansas Tech in the semifinals. The Lady Blazers hit under .200 in the tournament, something Macera says this year’s team can’t do if they want to win.
“If you get to a tournament and you get cold, then make a mistake here and there on defense, you lose,” Macera said. “But if you can hit a little and play good defense, and they make a mistake, you win. Some of it is you’ve got to be a little bit lucky.”
Pitching is vital in a conference tournament, and nobody has more depth in the circle than Alabama-Huntsville. The Lady Chargers had three pitchers named first-team All-Conference this year (Sage Woodham, who is 20-0, Whitney Hawkins, who is 15-0 and Caitlin Lee, who is 7-1). But earlier this month, the Lady Blazers handed Lee her only career loss and knocked Woodham out in the second inning. If VSU plays West Florida, they would either have to face East Division Pitcher of the Year Jillian LaFrance (23-6) or second-team All-Conference selection Emily Burge (17-9, 1.77).
Macera likes his pitchers, too. Right-handers Holly Satterfield (19-2, 2.01) and Margaret Carter (16-3, 1.54) and southpaw Brianna Collis (13-1, 1.06) have all had good seasons.
“Our pitchers have been doing well,” he said.
And Valdosta State has a lot of firepower at the plate, led by East Division Freshman of the Year Marti Littlefield (.426, 22 HR, 99 RBI), first-team All-Conference selection Alyssa Shirey (.414, 16 HR, 60 RBI) and two-time All-Conference pick Andi Braswell (.480, 11 HR, 63 RBI).
“Our girls have hit the ball,” Macera said. “Every girl in our lineup can hit. There have been times that the top of the lineup hasn’t hit, and the bottom’s hit the ball.”
Defense will be the key for VSU. When the Lady Blazers have committed one error or less in a game this season, they are undefeated.
“I’m confident in our pitching, I’m confident in our hitting. We just can’t have our defense let us down,” Macera said.
