"People become really quite remarkable when they start
thinking that they can do things. When they believe in
themselves they have the first secret of success."


-Norman Vincent Peale

Across the country softball practices have begun for each NCAA program and each team has aspirations to reach new heights and improve on last season. There have been no losses. Players and coaches are dreaming of what could be as this season nears its starting point. These same thoughts are permeating throughout the Wichita State softball program, but possibly with more clarity and vigor than in seasons past. With a new head coach, staff, and outlook the Shockers are blessed with a new beginning and direction.

Kristi Bredbenner arrives on the Wichita State campus with an impressive resume following six wildly successful seasons in charge of Division-II Emporia State's softball program where she compiled a career record of 295-82 (.782). At Emporia State, Bredbenner reached the postseason all six years and was the NCAA World Series runner-up on two separate occasions. As a player at Division-II Truman State, Bredbenner was a four-time All-MIAA pick, two-time Division II All-American and was named MVP of the conference in 2000. She is now tasked with turning a young Wichita State program into perennial contenders in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Joining Bredbenner's staff is Samantha Sheeley, a former star pitcher under Bredbenner at Emporia State, who will coach the pitchers. She was a two-time first-team All-MIAA selection and was named conference Pitcher of the Year in 2008. Samantha Ricketts joins the Wichita State staff after spending the past two seasons on the staff at her alma mater Oklahoma and will be the hitting coach. As a player at Oklahoma she was a four-time All-Big 12 first-team selection and a two-time academic All-Big 12 first-team selection. In 2009, she was named to the NFCA All-America second team, NFCA All-Central Region first team, and was a top 10 finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Another Bredbenner disciple, Abby Hughes, joined the program over the semester break as a graduate manager. Former Shockers Heather Gerritse and Jamie Hull complete the staff as student assistants.

Bredbenner's preferred style of play should be a welcome sight to Shocker fans who enjoy fast paced action on the base paths and sound fundamentals and fielding on defense. The aggressive style of play should help a team that is talented, yet inexperienced. The Shockers are returning one all-conference performer from last season as junior Sammie Shook returns to anchor a lineup that has shown steady improvement over the course of the fall season and into spring practice.

Returners from last season in addition to Shook include seniors Holly Eckert, Hilary Fort, and Brittney Osborn; juniors Katie Armagost, Danika Miller, and Haley Temple; and sophomores Sloan Anderson, Erin Carney, and Rachel Milnark.

Joining the team this year is sophomore Laura Vickers, a transfer from the University of Kansas, who is expected to be the team's starter at shortstop. Along with Vickers, the Shockers welcome six freshmen to the team; Brianne Bond, Kaitlyn Carey, Layne Greenlee, Melanie Jaegers, Katherine Johnson, and Sydney Stuever.

With so many new faces among the staff and players it is a work in progress pinpointing a definite starting lineup at this point in the season. The lineup will be fluid through the early part of the season until the coaching staff finds a combination that is productive and displays the chemistry necessary to compete in Missouri Valley Conference action in March.

However, the pre-conference schedule doesn't allow for the Shockers to ease into the season with easy victories, as they will play four of the eight teams that played in the 2011 College World Series. In the second game of the season, the Shockers will match up with preseason No. 7 Baylor on their home field in Waco, Texas. Other 2011 CWS teams the Shockers will face are preseason No.1 and defending national champion Arizona State, No. 6 Oklahoma, and No.16 Oklahoma State. For most teams that schedule would be met with slight trepidation, but this year's team is embracing the opportunity to test itself against some of the best programs in the country. Junior Haley Temple said, "Expectations have changed....we expect to do better. We expect to win. We expect to be in better shape and we have more expectations of ourselves."

The team's attitude and improvements in the weight room and conditioning have been pleasant surprises to Coach Bredbenner and staff. Coach Bredbenner discussed the changes she has seen from last year's team to this year. "Now they have really bought into the changes...for us the biggest difference was the weight room and the conditioning and the time. A good portion of our time is spent in the weight room and conditioning. To me, if you can get girls to believe that that's going to be a payoff and that's going to make them better at sports, they are going to continue to keep working hard and I think they do believe."

After being picked eighth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll the Shockers are using that as motivation and intend to play with a chip on their shoulder. Coach Bredbenner's reaction to the voting was, "It's better than being number one sometimes because you have nothing to lose and I think that is the focus of our team this year. We are going out to prove that we are better than people think we are." 

 

-WICHITA STATE-