The Elon University softball team was less than enthusiastic about where it was picked to finish in the Southern Conference’s preseason poll.
The Phoenix, which struggled to a 21-31 record last season, was picked seventh out of the conference’s eight teams, something senior infielder Lauren Oldham insists will be in the back of every player’s mind.
“We were told a couple days ago about [our ranking],” Oldham said. “It’s a good motivator because we know we’re not seventh. We can come in first. We just want to prove everybody wrong. It gives us a chip on our shoulder heading into the season.”
When head coach Kathy Bocock saw where her team was positioned, she knew it would be an important motivator for each of them. So she gathered her team together, told them where they stood and issued a challenge.
“They’re aware of it,” Bocock said. “I talked to them about it. I told them, ‘They picked us seventh, what are you going to do about it?’”
The Phoenix took its coach’s challenge and ran with it, going all out in practices and offseason workouts in order to get the SoCon Championship that some players said is well within their grasp.
“I think [being picked seventh in the SoCon] is going to motivate us to be better than everyone else thinks we’re going to be,” said Carleigh Nester, a senior outfielder. “It’s going to be great when we come out, have a great season and surprise everyone who ranked us seventh.”
Perhaps the most surprising part of the team being ranked seventh is that the Phoenix had four players named to either the first or second all-conference teams. Nester and sophomore outfielder Emily Cameron were given First-Team honors, while Oldham and senior catcher and third baseman Johanna Spencer were given spots on the second team.
Bocock said she was proud of her players’ honors but hopes the recognition will be a springboard toward more prominent awards for the whole squad at the end of the year.
“Preseason is preseason, but it’s a compliment to the girls,” Bocock said. “It’s all about them. The biggest thing our whole team is focused on is that preseason single awards are good, but we’d like to win the team awards at the end.”
Oldham, Nester, Spencer and senior middle infielder Ali Ford want to leave a lasting legacy on the program in their final season with the Phoenix. In order to do so, Oldham said she hopes to end her career with what associate head coach Jess Jacobson called the “championship sandwich.”
“We started out getting a championship in the SoCon a couple of years ago, and we want to end our time in the SoCon with a championship,” Oldham said. “That’s been our ultimate goal from the get-go.”
In order to do so, the Phoenix must first navigate a difficult non-conference schedule that sees them play in two tournaments – the Charleston Southern Classic and the Hatter Invitational in Deland, Fla., both of which feature elite opponents from across the country. Sandwiched in between their trips to Charleston and Deland is a home game with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which houses one of the premier softball programs in the country.
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That many difficult games early in the season would eat away at the confidence of some teams. But Bocock knows her team needs those games in order to improve their strength of schedule. It doesn’t hurt, Bocock admits, that Elon is in close proximity to several of the most prominent programs in the country.
“We want to make sure that out-of-conference, we’re playing some good teams to help with our RPI,” Bocock said. “We have ACC teams in our backyard and a great facility here, so they’re all wanting to come and play us.”
It will also get them ready for the ever-competitive SoCon which, according to Nester, is up for grabs.
“We have a lot of good competition [in the SoCon],” Nester said. “It’s always been that way. The competition is pretty even straight across the board. I don’t think there’s a bad team. They’re all good.”
On the mound, the Phoenix return six starters, all of whom have had a year of collegiate softball under their belts. Bocock said this will give them invaluable confidence and experience this year and in seasons to come.
It’s what each of the six brings to the table that has Nester excited.
Offensively, assistant coach Tyler Engle has implemented minor tweaks in every player’s swing, and the results have been immediate and encouraging.
“Coach Engle brought in some new philosophies on hitting, and it’s really done wonders,” Oldham said. “We’re killing the ball right now.”
“We have a lot of depth on our pitching staff,” Nester said. “We have all this variety of pitching where none of them throw exactly the same. You can put one in throwing fast and then put another one in throwing knuckle curveballs. It’s going to keep other teams off balance.”