By Quincy Tunstall
Student Reporter
With the spring semester warming up, the Lady Ranger Softball team is on deck for what head coach Jill Webb-DeVries expects to be a season full of “growth and hunger” from her mostly freshman roster.
“I have a young team who’s ready to go, so I’m expecting a lot of fire out of them,” Webb-DeVries said.
Entering her second season as head coach, Webb-DeVries and her team were picked to finish 9th in the Great American Conference’s preseason rankings, following a 16-28 season.
However, Webb-DeVries does not seem too concerned about their placing, having nothing but confidence in her young team.
“I think there are going to be some people who take us lightly, but I’ve got a really talented group of girls who are going to come out and take some people by surprise,” Webb-DeVires said.
With the same enthusiasm, assistant coach and former Lady Ranger herself, Allora Miller said she feels that their 17 incoming freshmen will really change the culture of the program, as well as add longevity.
Miller joined the Northwestern softball coaching staff in 2016, but was a member of the Northwestern softball team for three seasons where she was a dominant pitcher for the Lady Rangers.
Miller said she feels that having a young group of girls with a competitive drive and a strong urge to be on the field will help fuel the team’s energy as a whole.
She went on to say her girls are soaking up knowledge of the game like sponges as they learn to thrive at this newly reached level of softball and are improving every day.
In regards to the Lady Ranger veterans, Miller said she is confident that, although the freshman brought in a new age that keeps the team young and fun, it still allows the upper classmen to pass down the traditions of Northwestern and be mentors to them.
Miller said she believes they are guiding them in the right direction when it comes to expectations and standards and what it means to be a collegiate athlete.
Senior Morgan Kirk said she feels that having a lot of new minds is great for the program and allows everyone to buy in quickly.
With her second and final season in the black and red approaching, she holds a role as a positive teammate and vocal leader on and off the field.
Kirk is looking forward to a winning season and making it to the GAC tournament for the first time since Northwestern’s Division II birth.
The Lady Ranger’s season kicks off Feb. 15 at the Edmond Regional Festival.