Encore, Encore!

The stage is set and the Georgia College & State University Lady Bobcats are ready to give a repeat performance of last year’s great postseason run.
The Lady Bobcats lost six seniors from last year’s team but with a strong freshman class and a senior transfer, the team is ready to compete.

Pitching

Last year, pitching was one of the key elements that guided the Lady Bobcats to the World Series. Jennifer Joiner and Cathy Chandler graduated last year, after posting minuscule earned run averages and very high tallies of strikeouts.
The test in front of Lady Bobcats Head Coach Windy Thees is how to replace pitchers who have thrown no-hitters and set new pitching records at GC&SU.
“We have a lot of quality pitchers this year,” said Thees. “We returned Brook; she’s finally going to get an opportunity to step up and be the returning pitcher on our staff.”
Brook Harrison will lead the team as a junior this year. Behind her are some newcomers to GC&SU: Jenna Kubesch and Tara Hassell.
“We also have two young pitchers, Tara Hassell and Jennifer Kubesch, who have just thrown phenomenally in the fall,” said Thees. “They’ll be asked to do a lot during the spring, but it’s nothing they can’t do. They were both pitchers of the year for their respective states. They’ve come out here and held our team to relatively few hits which is difficult with the team that we have.”

Catching

The Lady Bobcats lost starting catcher Rebecca Heinicka due to her graduation. Now the team has several players battling it out for playing time.
“At catcher right now we have Heather Jones and Diana Baruffa. Diana is also our shortstop, but she’s sometimes back there [catcher],” said Thees. “Heather Jones stepped in at regionals last year. She’s also our back up first baseman.”
Both Baruffa and Jones are solid players. Thees said that she is impressed with Jones behind the plate and Baruffa earned All-Region honors as shortstop last season.

Infield

On the corners, the Lady Bobcats find a mixed blessing. Slugger Kristin Hughes is gone at third, but at first base Amy Davenport returns to lead the team in offense, once again.
“I’m a big fan of what we returned offensively, we returned our top eight hitters,” said Thees. “All of our new players can really touch the ball. We’re going to be able to hit and hit with some power. We could hit more home runs this year than we ever have in the past. I like where we’re at offensively right now.”
At third this year is all-state Freshman Nikki Smith, who looks to be the front-runner for the position, although when Kubesch is not pitching, she will likely see some time in the hot corner.
“At third base we’re going to be young,” said Thees. “We got Nikki Smith from Augusta who was an all-state player here in Georgia. She’s a great defensive player. She has a lot of speed at the plate. Jenna Kubesch, when she’s not pitching, can play a little third and first. She’s got such a good stick that we’re going to have to get her in the lineup somehow.”
Going up the middle of the infield, you will find Sophomore Diana Baruffa at shortstop and three-year player Jill Williams or Freshman Anna Cheely at second base. Ashley Blanton transferred to GC&SU from North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, where she helped the team win back to back conference championships.
“We returned Diana Baruffa again. We also have Ashley Blanton, who’s a senior transfer from North Georgia. She’s [Blanton] a great defensive shortstop; she’s also a pretty good second baseman. So she’ll be seeing time at both of those spots.”

Outfield

The outfield is in solid shape. Thees has two out of the three starters returning, including two-time All-Region and All-Conference senior centerfielder Joni Frei and sophomore leftfielder Aundrea Baker.
Andrea Baker made All -Tournament team in the world series and was our leading stolen base person,” Thees said. “We returned another senior captain in Joni Frei. She’s been out there for four years, so we’ll look for her to do it again this year.
Thees has options for rightfield with a collection of talented players.
“We have Brin Davis and Kristen Rutledge who can play all the positions in the outfield, they’ll also be fighting it out for playing time,” Thees said. “We also have Aubrey Koscelski who can play any position in the outfield and Erica Usry in the outfield who’s hit more home runs than anyone this fall.
The young outfield reflects most of the Lady Bobcats team, who has received an overhaul at virtually every position. Thees believes that there are certain advantages to having young and eager players.
“I’m still smart,” said Thees. “The younger the players are, the more the coaches know. As they get older, they figure out that we don’t know everything. They like to go their own way. I like this team. They’ve been very perceptive to our style of play. They’re very aggressive. I’m a big fan of that. That will carry us through this year.”
The team might be young, but Davenport believes that this year’s team has something that last year’s team didn’t.
“We have a lot more chemistry,” said Davenport. “We work really well together on the field. I don’t think that we have any gaps in our lineup this year.”
For Thees, the new players allow for experimenting in the lineup and defensive positioning. Thees sees the versatility as an advantage for the team.
“I like being able to move people around,” said Thees. “It gives your starters a break and it also creates competition, because you’ll know that there is someone who can also play that spot. I love it. You have to have more than one person at one spot because you’re only one injury away from having to change everything. This year we have a lot of different options.”
A lot of different options could equal the success of a 26-0 run to begin the season, or another opportunity to play in the NCAA Division II World Series. With her new players in hand and experienced leaders on the team, Thees expects to bring national prestige back to the Lady Bobcats for a second straight year.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 6 2004. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry