University of Houston Athletics
Season Outlook: Softball Brings Balanced Attack into 2011
1/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Jan. 18, 2011
HOUSTON - Despite returning the entire starting lineup and pitching staff from a year ago, the University of Houston softball team will still be considered a young squad heading into the 2011 season.
"When you look at the amount of people who will be starting on the field at one time, you're not going to see a lot of seniors," head coach Kyla Holas said. "I think people would still consider us young. They are going to look at things and see that it's going to be better, but we'd still be considered a young team."
That may surprise some who notice five seniors on the roster, but a closer look will reveal that three of the five seniors are on the pitching staff. Of those, one became a Cougar just this semester. To coincide with that, Houston also brought in a junior transfer and five freshmen to bring this year's newcomer total to seven.
Regardless, Holas still has 12 student-athletes with at least one year of playing in her system to their credit. She and her staff are pleased to have a solid returning core, a luxury they did not have at this time last season.
"It's easier in some sense because you don't have as many freshmen," Holas said, comparing the amount of returners in 2010 to 2011. "You're not spending everyday learning the system, learning terminology, figuring out how the season works, how long it is and all of those ups and downs. It's nicer in that aspect. With every team, you're going to have some rebuilding, with personalities coming together and leadership changeover. We've had some of that, but we've progressed well and we're really excited about the talent we have."
NEWCOMERS
Holas and her staff will work seven new Cougars into their system this season, five freshmen and two transfers. Although she acknowledges that the typical freshmen issues won't escape these five, Holas can't hide the excitement in her voice about her rookie crew.
Freshmen battery and twin sisters Haley (C) and Diedre Outon (P/UTL) came to Houston from Pflugerville High School. A four-year All-District pitcher for the Panthers, Diedre helped her team to a District Championship during the girls' 24-4 senior season. Haley was named a second team All-Central Texas catcher two years in a row and also made the All-District first team in all four of her years at PHS.
Sydney Gerbracht (P/UTL) and Stesha Brazil (C/IF) bring the team's Californian count to five as the freshmen pair came to Houston from San Diego and Turlock, Calif., respectively. A pitcher and team captain at Torrey Pines High School, Gerbracht led her team to the CIF Finals in 2010 and league championships in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Brazil received All-League, All-Conference, Offensive and Team MVP awards while attending Hilmar High School.
Erin Martin (IF) rounds out the freshman class, joining the team from Allen, Texas. While at Allen High School, Martin was a two-time first team All-District member as well as her team's Co-Offensive Player of the Year from 2008-10.
"I really do think this will be a special freshman class," Holas said. "Talent-wise, they can really make a run at some of the things in the record books that have been in there for a while. I do think that they're still going to be freshmen and that we're going to have that up and down a lot, but I'm hoping that their work ethic will move them through those ups and downs a little quicker than some of the freshmen that have had to struggle in the past."
After two years at McNeese State University, Spring, Texas, native Kelly Lindley (OF/UTL) moved closer to home when she made the decision to become a Cougar. She will begin her career at Houston as a junior.
Although she was the last newcomer to join this year's club, senior transfer Donna Bourgeois (P) made the biggest splash upon arrival. Bourgeois spent her first three years building an impressive resume in the circle at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Bourgeois enters her senior year with a career record of 69-24 and a career ERA of 1.37.
Last season, the Lafayette, La., native was named first team All-Sun Belt Conference, All-Louisiana and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSW) Pitcher of the Year. She was also named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA second team All-Region, while posting a 23-10 record with a 2.01 ERA in 32 starts.
During her sophomore campaign, Bourgeois ranked eighth in the nation with a 1.07 ERA in 235.1 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .169 batting average. The effort earned her Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year accolades after leading the Cajuns with 30 wins in 41 appearances.
As a freshman, Bourgeois led the SBC with a 0.97 ERA while leading ULL to a berth into Women's College World Series.
"Any team that gets a 20-game winner every year and has been in the postseason every year, including the Women's College World Series as a freshman, has the kind of experience that you can't fake," Holas said. "It does something different to you when you've played at that level. She is huge for us. Her expectations, her work ethic and her mentality is very different even when you just talk with her."
INFIELD
Houston returns its infield from 2010 in 2011, but Holas is predicting some changes in this year's defensive setup.
"We moved some people around this fall when Mary Tyler Dobson (2B) got injured," Holas said. "We have some offensive people that we really had to get in the lineup, including some of our newcomers. We've tried a few different spots and really spent some time at it. We didn't try to rush that process; we really tried to take our time getting them acclimated to those new positions."
Last year's homerun leader Brooke Lathan (SS) will resume her spot as the starting shortstop, while Martin will compete with her for time. Once Dobson finishes her recovery from a shoulder injury, she will stand in as the other half of the middle infield. In the meantime, redshirt junior Jennifer Klinkert (1B/2B), who started all 55 games at first base last season, will spend time at second.
Sophomore Holly Anderson (3B) will reclaim her role after starting all but four games at the hot corner in 2010. Brazil (1B) and Haley Outon (C) look to be among the first freshmen to crack the starting lineup. Outon got a jump on showcasing her offensive power this fall, when she belted five homeruns in just eight games. When Outon is not catching, last year's starter, Melissa Gregson (C/OF) and Brazil will step in.
"Of course there are always injuries that could happen, and then people would then shift a lot from that," Holas said. "That set of infielders gives us the most offense in the lineup that we can put in there, while not losing much defensively."
OUTFIELD
The outfielding core also returns in its entirety, but will have power in numbers this season as Holas and her staff have a welcomed problem to handle this season: depth.
"That depth and competing for positions is something that we haven't had in a while," Holas said. "It can be a good thing and a bad thing because too many people sitting the bench can get really unhappy really quickly. We've really tried to work with them on their role and our expectations so there are no surprises. No one is happy to sit, but we help them understand what they need to do to get out of it."
According to Holas, this season's crew of outfielders is so strong defensively that their offense will make the final determination of who will start. Sophomore outfielder and Conference USA All-Freshman team member Ashleigh Jones (OF) led the team in batting average (.333), triples (4), hits (61) and stolen bases (7) in 2010.
"Ashleigh is who you will see out there more than anybody," Holas said. "She had centerfield every day last year, barring injury. Mentally, she needs keep improving and stay more focused and aggressive."
Senior Katy Beth Sherman (OF) was one of just four Cougars to start every game last year and will likely return to the outfield again for her final season. Fellow senior Angela Spittler (OF) committed just one error in her 42 starts and led the team in on-base percentage (.398) to make a case to roam the outfield again in 2011. When she's not catching, Gregson will also get significant work in the outfield.
PITCHING
The addition of Bourgeois will enhance an already explosive rotation. Sophomore Bailey Watts (P) posted the 15th-best ERA in the conference (2.85) last season to earn a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman team while leading the Cougars in wins (14) and innings pitched (164.1).
Senior Amanda Crabtree (P) led the team in strikeouts (189) to rank fifth in the conference. With Outon and the already-proven Bourgeois also stepping onto the scene, Holas is excited about what her revamped pitching staff can do.
"Going through the fall and based on last year and the successes and abilities they have, I think that Donna Bourgeois (P) and Amanda Crabtree are going to be our No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers pretty consistently, Holas said. "I think that Bailey Watts and Diedre Outon are going to battle for that third and fourth spot."
OFFENSE
Sophomore Reina Gaber (UTL/DP) returns as the Cougars' offensive specialist from a year ago. She was second on the team with a .323 batting average and led the Cougars with nine doubles. Her performance was awarded with second team All-Conference honors as well as a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman team.
The Cougars posted a better batting average, slugging percentage and more hits than their opponents last season, but Holas and her staff sensed a lapse in fundamentals that they wanted to address. This fall, the coaching staff took the time to break down each player's swing and reinstall proper mechanics with their hands and contact points.
Holas said she hopes her team continued working on those fundamentals following the fall season. She saw a lot of her players in the batting cages and on the field during the break.
"If they do what they're capable of doing, this is going to be a very impressive offensive lineup," Holas said. "That might be getting a little ahead of ourselves, setting expectations too high or keeping everyone healthy. It's a long season and we're facing some very good teams. We expect a lot out of them, but you have to have a good balance there."
SCHEDULE
The Cougars are slated to face 11 NCAA Tournament Regional teams and two Super Regional teams from a year ago, including NCAA Women's College World Series Champion UCLA.
Ten opponents lined up for UH finished the 2010 season either receiving votes or one of the top-25 teams on the ESPN/USA Today's final poll. Some of the opponents Houston will match up against this year include: Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma State, UCLA, LSU and Michigan.
"I don't feel like this schedule is any tougher than previous seasons," Holas said. "It's pretty consistent, and we do it for a reason. Conference USA has proven to not send very many teams. Winning a conference is very difficult to do, sometimes even the best team in the conference doesn't always win the conference. Our way of getting there is through this schedule, playing some of those teams and getting some of those wins. I'm hoping this team is up to that challenge."
The Cougars open the 2011 season on Feb. 11 against Michigan as part of the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational.
