2018 Softball Media Day Quotes
RACHEL LAWSON: Well, I want to thank everybody for being here. This is pretty cool because there's a lot more people here today than there have been in the past. I remember the first time we did media day, there were two people and one of them was Shoals and he was a freshman and he had his iPhone out there asking me questions. It's really cool to see how much softball and baseball have grown, particularly all the excitement that's been around softball for a while, and baseball had just such a tremendous year last year, so I'm really excited for that.
As far as softball is concerned, I think something that's great that's new on the horizon is as we're building our brand new baseball stadium, super excited about that, we've also had an opportunity to enhance softball, and this year we've added a berm to us, so when the weather finally turns, you'll get to see the green grass, and it's going to be something. And the reason this is so special to me is because it shows a continued commitment by the athletic department to enhance the softball program. I mean, it's a very expensive thing that we weren't counting on and budgeting for the season, so the fact that our athletic department was willing to chip in and do this is incredible.
It's also a big deal because we have had the opportunity to host either a regional or a super regional five times since 2011. Our team is a mainstay now in regionals and super regionals. We've been in super regionals several times the past few years. We have had an appearance in the Women's College World Series recently. So we are definitely a team that the Big Blue Nation can get behind, so I'm very excited about this commitment.
You know, our team is very interesting. We are returning some unbelievable players. We have great strength in our position players that are coming back. Our outfield right now is probably the best it's ever been with returning Vick, Henson, Rainwater -- who am I forgetting? Oh, Brooklin, our senior, yes, Brooklin, who is an amazing person. We have also added Lauren Johnson, who's been incredible. She's fast. She's a freshman. Offensively she hit over .400 in our scrimmages, so she's going to add a lot to pop to the lineup. So I feel incredible things are on the horizon for our outfield.
Our infield, also, returning some tremendous players. On the left side, we have Abbey Cheek and Katie Reed coming back, who in my opinion are probably one of the strongest left sides in the entire country. We have Alex Martens coming back on the right side right now. She's at second base, and she is doing incredible. My hope was to move her to first base because I believe she would be one of the best first basemen in the country. But she seems to not be getting beat out at second base. So that really says a lot about her work ethic and her commitment to her speed.
The one position that we're not sure right now what we're going to do, I think we have a really solid plan at the beginning right now, Mallory Peyton has done an exceptional job there. Autumn Humes, who's a transfer, also, has done a good job there, and one of the reasons we have a little bit of a hole at first base is because we anticipate that Erin Rethlake will have a much bigger role on the mound than she's had in the past. Last year was really a coming-out party for her. She did an exceptional job.
And I'll tell you, I was so impressed at the work she did in regionals and in super regionals. To be able to pitch in those games and to have that big-game experience coming back is something that our program has always had as a cornerstone, and we believe that Erin is going to be able to take that, and along with our pitching staff, the rest of them is a little bit unknown, but I feel really good about where they're at.
Autumn Humes came in. She is my first-ever transfer at the University of Kentucky, and I feel really great about this being my first transfer. She is an incredible pitcher. She's incredibly strong, and she has a big, big, big personality that she is just starting to understand. I think that once she gets some big-game experience at the Division I level, she is going to be a force to reckon with.
Grace Baalman, also somebody over the past, I would say over the past four or five months, is a completely different pitcher. She's throwing consistently 65, 66 miles an hour with spin, and for a freshman to be able to do that is tremendous. So I feel great about where they're at.
Also returning is Larissa Spellman, and I'll tell you, Larissa Spellman is somebody that could really shock some people. She had her best game last year against Mississippi State. I missed it because I got ejected, but you know, it's something that we still talk about. And what I loved about that appearance is we were in a really bad place during that game, and here's somebody who's barely warm, came in, put the team on her back and carried them. So that really showed us what she could do, and she's just a sophomore. And then of course we have Bethany Todd, who's from down the road, that can really spin the ball.
Another player that I'm super excited about who has just recently really started to show the type of player that she is is Ashley Ruiz. She has done an exceptional job defensively. She also adds depth to the pitching staff and is really starting to hit the ball well. So those players -- I'm probably for getting a couple, but right now those are the ones that seem to be standing out in our team scrimmages and putting up tons of numbers.
And as the other players continue to develop, I think we have a very deep team going into 2018.
RACHEL LAWSON: Well, I want to thank everybody for being here. This is pretty cool because there's a lot more people here today than there have been in the past. I remember the first time we did media day, there were two people and one of them was Shoals and he was a freshman and he had his iPhone out there asking me questions. It's really cool to see how much softball and baseball have grown, particularly all the excitement that's been around softball for a while, and baseball had just such a tremendous year last year, so I'm really excited for that.
As far as softball is concerned, I think something that's great that's new on the horizon is as we're building our brand new baseball stadium, super excited about that, we've also had an opportunity to enhance softball, and this year we've added a berm to us, so when the weather finally turns, you'll get to see the green grass, and it's going to be something. And the reason this is so special to me is because it shows a continued commitment by the athletic department to enhance the softball program. I mean, it's a very expensive thing that we weren't counting on and budgeting for the season, so the fact that our athletic department was willing to chip in and do this is incredible.
It's also a big deal because we have had the opportunity to host either a regional or a super regional five times since 2011. Our team is a mainstay now in regionals and super regionals. We've been in super regionals several times the past few years. We have had an appearance in the Women's College World Series recently. So we are definitely a team that the Big Blue Nation can get behind, so I'm very excited about this commitment.
You know, our team is very interesting. We are returning some unbelievable players. We have great strength in our position players that are coming back. Our outfield right now is probably the best it's ever been with returning Vick, Henson, Rainwater -- who am I forgetting? Oh, Brooklin, our senior, yes, Brooklin, who is an amazing person. We have also added Lauren Johnson, who's been incredible. She's fast. She's a freshman. Offensively she hit over .400 in our scrimmages, so she's going to add a lot to pop to the lineup. So I feel incredible things are on the horizon for our outfield.
Our infield, also, returning some tremendous players. On the left side, we have Abbey Cheek and Katie Reed coming back, who in my opinion are probably one of the strongest left sides in the entire country. We have Alex Martens coming back on the right side right now. She's at second base, and she is doing incredible. My hope was to move her to first base because I believe she would be one of the best first basemen in the country. But she seems to not be getting beat out at second base. So that really says a lot about her work ethic and her commitment to her speed.
The one position that we're not sure right now what we're going to do, I think we have a really solid plan at the beginning right now, Mallory Peyton has done an exceptional job there. Autumn Humes, who's a transfer, also, has done a good job there, and one of the reasons we have a little bit of a hole at first base is because we anticipate that Erin Rethlake will have a much bigger role on the mound than she's had in the past. Last year was really a coming-out party for her. She did an exceptional job.
And I'll tell you, I was so impressed at the work she did in regionals and in super regionals. To be able to pitch in those games and to have that big-game experience coming back is something that our program has always had as a cornerstone, and we believe that Erin is going to be able to take that, and along with our pitching staff, the rest of them is a little bit unknown, but I feel really good about where they're at.
Autumn Humes came in. She is my first-ever transfer at the University of Kentucky, and I feel really great about this being my first transfer. She is an incredible pitcher. She's incredibly strong, and she has a big, big, big personality that she is just starting to understand. I think that once she gets some big-game experience at the Division I level, she is going to be a force to reckon with.
Grace Baalman, also somebody over the past, I would say over the past four or five months, is a completely different pitcher. She's throwing consistently 65, 66 miles an hour with spin, and for a freshman to be able to do that is tremendous. So I feel great about where they're at.
Also returning is Larissa Spellman, and I'll tell you, Larissa Spellman is somebody that could really shock some people. She had her best game last year against Mississippi State. I missed it because I got ejected, but you know, it's something that we still talk about. And what I loved about that appearance is we were in a really bad place during that game, and here's somebody who's barely warm, came in, put the team on her back and carried them. So that really showed us what she could do, and she's just a sophomore. And then of course we have Bethany Todd, who's from down the road, that can really spin the ball.
Another player that I'm super excited about who has just recently really started to show the type of player that she is is Ashley Ruiz. She has done an exceptional job defensively. She also adds depth to the pitching staff and is really starting to hit the ball well. So those players -- I'm probably for getting a couple, but right now those are the ones that seem to be standing out in our team scrimmages and putting up tons of numbers.
And as the other players continue to develop, I think we have a very deep team going into 2018.