The fantastic part about having friends — really close friends — is they can say just about anything to you.
Their comments may irritate you. They may even anger you, but once you stop and hear what they are saying, you know they’re right.
Erin Stanfield and Ashley Reed have friends like that on the New Hope High School fast-pitch softball team. It’s the fantastic ones — Lauren Holifield and Erin Stanfield — who have helped them through the ups and the downs and enabled them to become contributors.
Erin Stanfield and Reed showed again Friday they are ready to play key roles, as they helped New Hope defeat Oxford 17-1 in four-and-a-half innings in game two of their Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State playoffs series at Lady Trojan Field.
The victory, coupled with New Hope’s 13-0 win against Oxford on Thursday night, helped it clinch the best-of-three series and earn a date against McComb in the next round. McComb eliminated Hernando on Friday. The teams will play Thursday at a time to be determined at McComb and Saturday at New Hope. If needed, game three will follow game two.
On Friday, Erin Stanfield had three hits and was hit by a pitch, while Reed had a sacrifice bunt and reached base twice on an error and another time on a fielder’s choice. Their contributions were part of a 17-hit attack that included an eight-run third inning that helped the Lady Trojans (24-1) earn the mercy-rule victory.
Although not pleased with her team’s lack of attention to detail in the victory, New Hope coach Tabitha Beard acknowledged the hard work Erin Stanfield and Reed have done to put themselves in positions as seniors to be important pieces of the puzzle.
“Erin had a great Senior Night,” Beard said. “She stepped up and did what she needed to do when we had some who were struggling. She is one of those players who sits in the background. There are nights like tonight when she really shines. That is good for her. That is the culmination of years of hard work.”
Erin Stanfield and Reed have been with the program since 2007, and both are part of the “Fantastic Four” with Kasey Stanfield and Holifield. That quartet has haunted Lady Trojan on Friday nights when the team isn’t playing. They have spent that time honing their skills in the game they love. While Holifield (Jones County Junior College) and Kasey Stanfield (East Mississippi Community College) have signed scholarships to play softball at the next level, Erin Stanfield and Reed will go on to study at the Mississippi University for Women.
“I really sat down with Erin and Ashley Reed and told them, ‘We need you to step up,’ ” Beard said. “They have done a really good job of doing that the last couple of games They have hit the ball pretty well.”
Beard said Erin Stanfield hasn’t let the accomplishments of Kasey overwhelm her. Instead, she said Erin and Reed have worked with their fantastic teammates and continued to tweak their games. They both have watched as other players earned playing time before them. They also have played defense and not hit while another teammate who has a hotter bat has gotten the at-bats.
“It was a downer, but Kasey was right here with me and we worked together,” Erin Stanfield said. “She fed the pitching machine and I hit a lot. I just hit a lot, and D.J. helped me fix the stuff that was wrong and now I am contributing more.
“Before, I didn’t have confidence when I went up to the plate. Tonight, I was just like, ‘It is just a thing, and I am probably going to get on.’ You have to have that mind-set that you’re going to get on, and I did tonight.”
But now is the time for Erin Stanfield and Reed. With Mackenzie Harvey out with an injury, Stanfield and Reed have both been in the lineup the past two games, and both have delivered. Stanfield had two hits in the first game against Oxford, while Reed has been a table-setter at the bottom of the lineup for speedsters Taylor Blevins and R.J. James.
For Stanfield, the progression has been impressive She had two hits in a 4-1 victory against Neshoba Central on April 15. Since then, she had raised her batting average from .226 to .348. She said she has changed her attitude and realized there is nothing worse than not getting a hit.
Reed’s batting average (.180) isn’t as gaudy, but she knows it is all about confidence, and she said she is going to do whatever it takes to help the team. She also said her teammates have helped her work on her hitting and build her confidence.
“It is a lot to know that your teammates believe in you and they’re willing to help you and stay with you,” Reed said. “Winning is a confidence thing, so when you don’t believe in yourself and you see everybody else does it helps you.”
Reed said she believed in herself during slow-pitch softball season. Although the hitting in each sport is different, she tried to carry that confidence into the fast-pitch season. After Harvey hit for Erin Stanfield early in the season, Reed started to struggle, so Harvey hit for her. Like Stanfield, Reed said not getting a chance to hit was a “downer,” but she said she got over it thanks to support from Blevins and James.
All of the support and the work at and after practice has produced fantastic results for Erin Stanfield and Reed.
“It is like four sisters. We’re not scared to say anything to each other,” Stanfield said when asked what it is like to be a part of the “Fantastic Four.” “I am really thankful to have friends like that. … We push each other to do everything. We keep each other straight.”
Said Reed, “If I come out here and have a bad attitude, Kasey is not afraid to yell at me and say, ‘Get your head up,’ and Lauren is not, either. If I come out here and do really bad, Lauren is not afraid to tell me I am doing bad and she will tell me what I need to do fix it. If you weren’t friends with somebody since you were 6, they might be like, ‘I don’t know if I want to tell her she is doing bad or if I want to tell her it is going to be OK.’ Lauren and Kasey will tell you it is going to be OK in the long run, but right then they will tell you it is not going to be OK because you need to get better because you know you can.”
Kaitlin Bradley (two RBIs) and D.J. Sanders (four doubles, four RBIs) led the attack with four hits. Holifield had three hits, including a home run, and three RBIs, Blevins had two hits and two RBIs, and James had a single.
Sanders (11-1) earned the victory, allowing only one hit and striking out eight. She didn’t walk a batter.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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