Tabitha Beard remembers.
When you have played for coach who started the program and then taken her place, it is easy for Beard to recall the last time the New Hope High School fast-pitch softball team played for a state title.
Amidst all of the championship signs on the outfield wall at Lady Trojan Field, one sign in the left-field corner has a lonely number: 2003. East Central beat New Hope in Columbus for its third consecutive state title that year, and it has been Beard’s goal to get the Lady Trojans back to that point.
At 7 tonight, New Hope (27-4-1) will realize Beard’s dream when it takes on Wayne County (20-9-1) in game one of the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A title series at Freedom Ridge Park in Ridgeland.
Game two will be at 11 a.m. Saturday. An if-needed game would follow approximately 30 minutes later.
“We have talked to them about (the last time New Hope was in the state title series), but we haven’t stressed it,” Beard said. “I have tried not to harp on it a whole lot that this is a chance to win the first (fast-pitch) title ever. I think they put enough pressure on themselves because they know that.”
New Hope has won 14 slow-pitch state titles, including five in a row. The building process in fast-pitch softball has coincided with the development of players like junior Lauren Holifield and the other members of “The Fantastic Four” — Kasey Stanfield, Ashley Reed, and Erin Stanfield — and sophomores like D.J. Sanders and Kaitlin Bradley. Beard said Holifield and Sanders have helped lead the charge because they were among the first players at New Hope High to come up playing fast-pitch softball first. In fact, she said they had to make significant adjustments in the fall when it came time to hit slow-pitch softball pitching.
“We actually laughed watching them hit in slow-pitch the first time because they had never done it before,” Beard said. “Our park and rec program had went to fast-pitch softball for a little while and then it all phased back around. In that stage, those were the girls who played fast-pitch softball their whole life and all summer. When you’re playing it that much and putting that much work into it, naturally you’re going to keep getting better and better.”
Former New Hope High softball coach Cary Shepherd, who helped start the fast-pitch program in 1997, said it was a building process for the program to get to the state title series. She said the Lady Trojans might not have been as versed in the ways of fast-pitch ball and that their pitchers might not have had as many pitches as their counterparts, but she said the players never lacked for confidence.
“I remember Laura Lee (Holman, the school’s current girls golf and girls basketball coach) as a young girl on that team and she was so determined,” Shepherd said. “She said, “I am going to be able to hit off this girl (Mississippi State University signee Stephanie Comeaux), and nothing is going to stop me from getting a hit.’ ”
New Hope built off that trip to the state title series, advancing to the North State title series the next three seasons. The Lady Trojans had lost in the second round the past three seasons before snapping a similar run of frustration this season.
Beard said in 2010 she felt her team’s offense was catching up to her pitching and defense. Pitching and defense have again been bedrocks to the Lady Trojans’ success. Led by Sanders and Holifield, New Hope battled back to take two games at home to eliminate Lake Cormorant and take the final step to the state title series.
Beard said the players were willing to make changes to the formula after falling short so many times. She said she knew the potential was there for the program to play for a state title and that it just had to do the little things better and be even more committed to the process. As a result, the team has narrowed its focus and learned how to “shut it down.” She said the team has completed six of the eight steps it knew it had to take to realize the goal, and she hopes it is ready to take the final two.
“The way they have played, I couldn’t be more proud with everything that has happened,” Beard said. “They have taken the attitude that nothing is going to stop us. Even though we didn’t hit the ball great (against Lake Cormorant), we did what we had to do to score the runs. They always stayed up and they stayed together. It has been a great process. I’d love to finish it.”
Beard expects an equally tough challenge from Wayne County. The teams played to a 2-2 tie in eight innings March 17 in the Clarkdale High tournament. Beard said she expects to face Paxton Luke, who allowed seven hits and no walks and struck out six in the game. She feels her team’s defense, which made errors to allow Wayne County to score two unearned runs, has improved since then and that it will be a key to helping the program complete the championship run.
“Defensively, we have gotten a lot stronger,” Beard said. “We have been back and forth all year at the plate. We went through a big lull when we saw slower pitching, but we had to come back out of that, and I think we have started to do that the past two rounds. The Saltillo girl had pretty good speed, and the Lake Cormorant girl did a good job of hitting her spots. I think (Luke) is a combination of those two.”
Beard likes the contact her team made against Wayne County earlier this season, but she knows Luke and her teammates also have improved. Wayne County swept East Central to win the South State title.
“We played decent (against Wayne County), but we didn’t play the caliber of defense we normally do,” Beard said. “Hopefully, our defense will step up and it will be a different result.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.