Lady Buffs like their chances in softball regionals

By Kelly Hodge
Johnson City Press Sports Editor

Milligan College has the experience and top billing heading into the NAIA Region XII softball tournament.

All coach Wes Holly wants to see over the next three days is his team play to its full potential.

“I like our chances if we take our ‘A' game up there,” Holly said Tuesday before hitting the road for New Albany, Ind. “We've got four seniors who have been there two of the last three years, so we know what it takes to win it. And we're playing pretty good ball right now.”

The Lady Buffs (36-17) were seeded No. 1 in the six-team field after claiming the Appalachian Athletic Conference championship last week. They received a first-round bye, as did Virginia-Wise, which defeated Milligan 4-3 in the regional final last season.

The Lady Buffs will play the winner of Indiana Southeast, the host school, and Union today at 2 p.m. If they win, they'll play at the same time Thursday.

The championship game is set for Friday at 1 o'clock, with the winner earning a spot in the NAIA national tournament in Decatur, Ala.

“We had to win three games in one day to win the AAC,” said Holly. “Surely we can win three games in three days. The key is staying in the winners' bracket, because it's tough to win a championship if you lose early.”

Holly will send ace Sidney Burns to the mound today to set the tone. The freshman from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was the pitcher of the year in the AAC after compiling a 26-9 record and 0.96 earned-run average.

Burns is one of six all-conference players for Milligan. Also on that list are first baseman Jessica Blevins, centerfielder Sarah Smith, second baseman Mallory Tincher, shortstop Laken Stewart and catcher Sarah Smith.

Blevins is the team's leading hitter (.367 average, 8 home runs), while Smith drove in 34 runs and scored 36.

“She is our spark plug,” Holly said of Smith, a senior from Elizabethton. “She's stolen 39 of 40 bases this season. If we get her on, we force the issue.”

Milligan is quite familiar with most of the regional qualifiers. Four come from its conference — Wise, Union and Tennessee Wesleyan — and the Lady Buffs played the other two — Indiana Southeast and Mountain State of West Virginia — last season.

“Our four teams are probably stronger than the other two,” said Holly. “We'll probably wind up beating each other some more, like we've done all season. I think we're prepared to go in and win that battle.”