The Eagles said adieu to a humongous six seniors last season, including outfielder Shelby Wilson who led the team with 37 RBI .
This off-season, Head Coach Kim Dean wanted to push for the team to grow together off of the mound and learn to work together as a team. This will be just her second full season in Statesboro, as she was previously at Armstrong State, and she went through a grueling lease process to fill vacant spots on the coaching staff .
“ We obviously have two newfangled coaches, we have a distribute of new kids, ” Dean said. “ So just truly trying to get us to understand that that success is built from … within our footlocker room, more importantly. We actually focused on that and … the fundamentals of the bet on. ”
The team introduced Dani Price from her alma flat, McNeese State, and Brock Van Faussien from the University of Pittsburgh to the softball course of study during the off-season break and both have received a warm welcome by the team. The seniors raved about the positive contributions they ’ ve made in the few short months that they ’ ve been a region of the broadcast .
The team has adopted a new root for this season, nicknamed a coffee bean culture. Adapted from the wildly popular motivational reserve from best-selling author Jon Gordon, a coffee bean culture is defined as a acculturation that is volition to be changed by taking action .
This book ’ sulfur chief ideas have been implemented by the program from the team to the coaching staff to the carry staff, including the intensity and condition coach and the sports psychologist .
“ If you put a carrot into hot urine, it softens, but a coffee bean bean is the entirely thing that changes the water, ” Dean said. “ We don ’ thymine let the body of water variety us, we change the water for the better. We in truth have taken that full stride. ”
The team exchanges coffee beans every practice as small tokens of affirmations for their teammates, on or off the mound. elementary actions like giving each early rides or cooking a team dinner for each other is desirable of a coffee bean bean and it has helped the team to build a stronger bond .
Five seniors are at the vanguard of this bowel movement within the broadcast, including Mekhia Freeman, Shayla Smith, Alia Booth, Sydney Horton and Ellington Day. Dean emphasized that the team ’ south finish this season was to create a family atmosphere and enjoy the struggles that the season is bound to bring as a collective group.
“ I ’ thousand pumped, I ’ thousand cook to go, ” Freeman said. “ I ’ megabyte kind of deplorable but I ’ megabyte excited though because everything we ’ rhenium doing means we ’ rhenium move in the justly focus. It ’ s thoroughly to see. ”
Freeman was selected as a Preseason All-Sun Belt outfielder and was shocked by the league ’ randomness decisiveness because she did not feel like last temper was anything special as an individual. She was proven wrong by Sun Belt officials .
The fall temper was cut short due to weather, but Dean does not think that the agenda exchange hindered the team in any manner, and infielder Shayla Smith echoed the opinion .
“ The few games we did have in truth showed our potential, ” Smith said. “ We ’ ve all established these bang-up relationships, so I ’ megabyte excited to see on Friday how that portrays in the game. ”
When it comes to pitchers, GS has a overplus of choices for who can take the diamond. There are presently six pitchers on the roll and Dean plans to rotate them frequently .
“ I think that we have a couple that will take the majority of the innings, ” Dean said. “ There ’ s no rule that we can ’ thyroxine put in a pitcher for one or two outs, there ’ s no rule that we can ’ thymine flip starters promptly. All of our pitchers will help us in certain ways. ”
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On the flip side from last season, there are many away games on the agenda, meaning a travel-heavy life style for the following few months. Three Power 5 schools will make a travel to Statesboro, and at the goal of the season, rival Georgia State will host the Sun Belt Conference Tournament .
The team will play host to Hartford, ETSU, Rutgers and Army West Point during Bash in the Boro on Eagle Field this weekend. Conference play will not begin until March, so the team has ample prison term to prepare this young roll for a strenuous Sun Belt schedule .
Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Sports Managing Editor, gaeditor @ georgiasouthern.edu
