Lana Richmond is in her 30th season as Southeast Missouri's head softball coach. Coach Richmond will post periodic installments of "From the Dugout" which feature her viewpoints on the team and 2012 season.
Update #2 -- Starting Ohio Valley Conference Play (March 7, 2012)
We have endured some tough losses leading up to Ohio Valley Conference play. The team has made progress each time out and I see many positives heading into our conference-opening series against Morehead State. Our pitching staff has been able to go the distance in many games. Offensively, we have to pick up the pace when our baserunners are in scoring position. We have played a lot of defensive players to see what combinations work best. Our pinch-hitters have given us options and have produced. Last weekend at the “All Missouri,” I felt the team fought hard and our effort was there, but we either lost in extra innings or the final inning. The team has faced just about every scenario on the field and they are definitely ready for conference play.
Our conference is balanced and it is very tough to be beat a team three times in a weekend series. Teams go down to the last conference series in May to position themselves for a chance to advance to the postseason. It should be a conference race that changes in the standings every weekend. This year, we open up at home and look forward to playing on our field after being on the road for our first 15 games of the season.
Our Softball family at Southeast Missouri lost a great one in Tianna Stockley. Tianna was tragically killed in an automobile accident during our preseason. Tianna had verbally committed to Southeast her junior year and signed this past November. Some current team members played with T in the St Louis summer leagues and others already had made connections with her. While never playing a game at Southeast, Tianna made an impact on this team and its coach. Our thoughts and prayers remain with T’s family, Mike, Sherry, and Cullen. Heaven truly needed a hero and a shortstop!
In Loving Memory of Tianna Stockley (Oct. 17, 1993 - Feb. 19, 2012)
GO REDHAWKS!
Lana Richmond
Update #1 -- Preseason (January 24)
The team is eager to get the 2012 season underway. We are finishing up preseason practice and preparing for our first games down south at Jackson State and the Mardi Gras Tournament in Monroe, La. Our goal is to play as many games in order to get ready for our conference season which starts mid-March
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Our team is healthy and it's great to start with a full roster. Injuries are part of a season, but right now we are 19 players strong.
It’s exciting to talk about this year’s team. The team is anxious to build on last year's strong finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, where we fell one win shy of advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
We return a veteran pitching staff. Our freshmen are now sophomores after throwing lot of innings and maturing along the way. We return a junior coming into her second season as a pitcher, a veteran senior and add a freshman to the mix, giving us a solid staff. Coach Roessner has worked diligently with this group and has them ready to go.
Our infield and outfield defense also have veteran leadership and they are poised to play some great “D”. They will be exciting to watch!
There will be two new catchers behind the dish this year and both have had a strong preseason.
Parents, alumni, friends and Southeast Missouri students...we need to see you this season. We appreciate your support, and having you at the games is a confidence-booster for our team! You can also follow many of our games online.
Here is hoping for a warm and dry spring, and see you at the field!
GO REDHAWKS!
Lana Richmond
