Softball 2019 Preview: Pitchers/Catchers
2/1/2019 11:20:00 AM | Softball
Season Tickets Available For 2019
The 2019 Sam Houston State softball season is nearly upon us, with first-year head coach Garrett Valis' team to open up the season on Feb. 9 in Houston vs Kentucky. This is the first of a three-part preview, position by position, of this year's squad, leading up to the 2019 opener.
PITCHER/CATCHER NOTABLES
Returning: Lindsey McLeod, Bailey White, Darby Fitzpatrick, Annie Bailey, Hunter Ervin
Newcomers: Regan Dunn, Karina Sanchez
HUNTSVILLE – If there is one thing that Sam Houston State's first-year head coach Garrett Valis can be excited about for the 2019 season, it is knowing that his team enters the season boasting one of the top batteries the Southland Conference has to offer.
With senior pitcher Lindsey McLeod and redshirt sophomore catcher Bailey White each on the preseason all-SLC first team, the Bearkats will feature dynamic players both inside the circle and behind the dish in 2019.
Add in a pair of returning arms and a pair of impact arms and this year's pitching staff has the makings of the deepest the Kats have had in recent years.
“I think two years ago, when Lindsey was a sophomore and we had Taylor Atkinson, it was a great 1-2 punch. But after that we fell off quite a bit,” Valis said. “I would say the same for last year. We just didn't have the depth and we ran into that in the conference tournament and that kept us from moving on. If we had the depth we have now last year then I think was a good chance we would have made it to the championship with the way Lindsey was throwing the ball. It is definitely the deepest pitching staff all the way around 1-5 since I've been here.”
McLeod is coming off a record-setting junior campaign in 2018 when she set a new single-season record at SHSU with 222 strikeouts. She earned second team all-SLC honors and was named to the all-tournament team at the SLC Tournament in Lake Charles where she punched out 21 hitters in 23.0 innings, including 11 in a win over Stephen F. Austin.
But despite the high strikeout numbers, a 2.34 ERA and a .204 opponent's batting average, McLeod's 197.1 innings were nearly triple any other Bearkat starter in 2018. This season the Kats should be able to regulate that with the additions of junior college transfer Karina Sanchez and freshman Regan Dunn, along with returners Darby Fitzpatrick and Annie Bailey each with a year of experience under their belts.
McLeod also surrendered 58 extra-base hits on the season, numbers that don't concern Valis much due to her aggressive pitching style and riseball; however, he would like to see her become more efficient and trim down on her walks (78) and hit batters (19) from a year ago.
“Walks are the more concerning number just because that gets anyone into trouble,” Valis said. “You can give up a double, triple, or home run as long as you didn't put the two kids on base before that and turn a solo shot into a three-run homer. I used to always be worried about the home runs, but when you throw the rise ball you're going to give some up and miss some pitches. If she doesn't have it one day we are much deeper from a pitching staff standpoint to help her out with that.”
Still, McLeod's big 2018 has her set up for a senior season that could include a number of career records before all is said and done. Along with her 15 wins last year she also picked up a pair of saves and now needs six more to tie the SHSU record, but the bigger price will be in the form of strikeouts where she enters the season already in second place all-time at SHSU with 456. She will need just 73 more punchuots to pass Brandi Crnkovic for the all-tie Bearkat record.
But what will take the Kats to the next level will be the pitching depth this year. Both Bailey and Fitzpatrick logged more than 60 innings as true freshmen a year ago, but due to other injuries on the staff were the only options behind McLeod and finished the year sporting ERAs above 5.00.
Both Bailey and Fitzpatrick put up similar numbers, but Bailey was the offensive benefactor more often than not, finishing with a 7-5 record. Fitzpatrick did not register a win, despite pitching in five more games and logging nearly a dozen more innings for the year.
Valis feels that both have taken necessary strides to be impact players this year, and will certainly be asked to log key innings throughout the year.
The Kats also welcome Dunn and Sanchez to the fold with Dunn being a piece that Valis expects to use in the circle, but also as an impact position player. A left-handed bat with speed, Dunn will certainly see time in the outfield and in the lineup, but will likely make the biggest difference when she's in the circle.
She struck out over 800 batters and sported an ERA just over 1.000 at Cuero High School and Valis expects her to compete for the No. 2 pitching spot behind McLeod, although Temple College transfer Karina Sanchez is there in the mix as well.
“Regan throws 63-64 but has a devastating changeup that is as good as Lindsey's riseball,” Valis said. “So, when she can throw that hard and mix in a changeup that she can throw for strikes she is going to be a tough matchup.”
“Karina is a big kid who throws the drop ball a ton, really locates it well and has gotten better ever since I've known her,” Valis said. “We expect her to be a kid we can use with Lindsey a lot because when you are working up with Lindsey, we feel that Karina can offset what Lindsey is doing by working in the other direction of changing speeds and getting ground balls.”
Sanchez comes to the Kats after a stellar career on the junior college circuit, leading Temple College to the 2018 NJCAA national title. There she earned MVP honors at the national tournament after allowing just one run on three hits in the title game.
For the year she finished with a 20-3 record and a 1.42 ERA and earned first team all-conference honors.
All of those arms will primarily be throwing to all-conference catcher Bailey White and Hunter Ervin, with Valis expecting to get more from the catching spot than they have received in a long time.
White was one of SHSU's prized recruits entering the 2017 season, but an injury just before the start of the year shelved her for all of that season and she took full advantage of the year off in 2018. She was named to the all-SLC third team as a redshirt freshman after starting 49 games and hitting .260 with five homers and 27 RBI, and throwing out seven potential base stealers.
With a 6-0 frame and easy power, she hit .321 against Southland pitching last year and could be on the verge of a breakout sophomore season as the top returning backstop in the league.
“Bailey has been obliterating the ball since we got back this spring,” Valis said. “She is definitely someone who is feared in our lineup, that nobody wants to pitch to and I'd expect to see her in the lineup pretty much every game, either at catcher or DP.”
However, Ervin has been more than solid in fall and spring practices and will share the load with White behind the plate this season. She played in just nine games last year after joining the team from West Texas A&M and, according to Valis, has made some key changes to her swing that the Bearkat head coach believes will make an immediate difference.
“Bailey and Hunter are going to share time back there,” Valis said. “Hunter is a friendly receiver and does a great job of working behind the plate, and I think she seems to steal a few more strikes for our pitchers. She has worked really hard on her swing and has made the necessary changes to her swing over the break, which is tremendous.”
