The Tennessee Tech softball team kicks off its season in less than two weeks, with a new head coach and a second place ranking in the Ohio Valley Eastern Division preseason poll.
One of four returning seniors, third baseman, Brittney Spalding, discussed the team’s preparation for the upcoming season. “Since Coach Bynum was a successful pitcher here when she was at Tech, we’ve definitely focused on our pitching and strengthening it as best we can. We’ve been working on our communication and making our practices as game-like as possible.”
The team opens up its first series away at Georgia Southern on Feb. 9 and will not host a home game until March 23, making it only one of four home weekends the team will have all year. Despite the fact the team will not be home many times this season, the team is confident in its ability to adjust to such a tough schedule.
“The softball team has always done better when we are at home. Since we will be away a lot more this year, we are going to have to focus mentally on the road. We have a really good pitching staff and a good group overall so I don’t think it will be a problem.” Spalding said.
The Golden Eagles have always placed an emphasis on working together as one unit on the field. One of the leaders on the team, senior shortstop, Melody Christian said, “We push each other to do our best, so when game time comes we can lay it all on the line. We have really good team chemistry, which helps us in our goal for an OVC championship.”
As seniors, both Spalding and Christian said they want to make this season as memorable as possible. Spalding said, “We not only want to make it special for ourselves, but for all of our teammates since we are all so close. There’s a lot of family dynamic within this team.”
