OVC Commissioners Cup
Murray State wins the inaugural OVC Commissioners Cup. HERE is a breakdown of the points for each school. In previous years, the OVC had separate cups for Men’s and Women’s sports. This is the first season they combined Men’s and Women’s. HERE is a little more about how it is calculated.
JSU Linebacker Alexander Henderson
ALEXANDER HENDERSON was named to the Consensus Draft Services 2009 preseason Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-American Team. Click HERE to see the entire list.
Jacksonville State’s Kyle Bluestein
JSU Freshman Baseball player, KYLE BLUESTEIN was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. One lesser know fact is that he led the conference in doubles with 21.
High School sports in Alabama
Looking at the top 50 teams nationally according to Rivals.com by sport, here is where Alabama high schools show up.
FOOTBALL TOP 100:
Prattville #10
Vigor #54
MEN'S BASKETBALL TOP 100:
Butler (Huntsville) #22
LeFlore (Mobile) #27
LADIES BASKETBALL TOP 50:
Bob Jones (Madison) #46
BASEBALL TOP 50:
None in Alabama
OVC Baseball Tournament
Tennessee Tech, the OVC Baseball Tournament Champion, was 10-11-1 in conference play this season.
Jacksonville State’s Sam Eberle, Steven Leach, Todd Cunningham, Kyle Bluestein, and Austin Lucas were named to the OVC All-Tournament team.
Eastern Illinois, the #1 Seed in the tournament, didn’t win any games. The championship game featured the #5 vs. #6 seeds. Play to make the tournament – anything can happen.
Softball
We’re proud of you. The softball team played Alabama for the chance to go to the College World Series – the top 8 teams in the country. We didn’t quite make it, but came closer than ever. As Coach Norman Dale said in the movie “Hoosiers”, (Click HERE for the top 100 sports movie quotes, and scroll down to #42).
“If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners.”
And in our book, you are winners.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
INTERVIEW WITH GAMECOCK SOFTBALL CATCHER ALLIE BARKER
Yesterday, gamecockillustrated.com had the opportunity to speak with Allie Barker of the Jacksonville State Softball team. Allie is a Senior Catcher on the Softball team and the daughter of JSU sports’ legend Butch Barker. The Alexandria product hit .366 on the season and over 400 in the Knoxville Regional. Here are her thoughts on the Knoxville Regional and advancing to the Tuscaloosal Regional.
Q: What are your feelings headed down to Tuscaloosa?
A: We are just excited. We are two wins away from being where we want to be and that’s getting in the World Series. This is what we have dreamed about since we were little kids. It’s like we’ve been saying ever since we came back from Regionals—we are just living the dream!
Q: That has kind of become a team motto hasn’t it?
A: It has. We just kept saying this is the dream, then that became “living the dream.”
Q: How is the team health wise?
A: We were a little sore, but we have that worked out and we are good to go. Lord willing we will be healthy.
Q: Is it an advantage or disadvantage having previously played Alabama?
A: I always think it's an advantage because we have seen [their pitchers]. I’m sure they have improved, but its always an advantage having seen someone before.
Q: Do you like playing in Tuscaloosa?
A: We love playing at Alabama. Their facilities are really nice. Their infield is a little bit quicker than ours, but I don’t think it's as quick as UT’s so I think we will be fine. We like playing there. It’s a good atmosphere.
Q: Are the Bama fans tough on you?
A: Yes, it’s a tough place to play. They pull for Alabama a lot but they do heckle a lot too.
Q: Do you expect a good JSU contingent like you had last year?
A: I sure hope so. In Knoxville, our fans were awesome. We have been calling them the 10th man because they impacted us a lot and helped get us thru. I know a lot of them are trying to come back to Alabama.
Q: How does the ESPN coverage impact you?
A: It's exciting, but the biggest thing that is a factor is that we are not used to being on tv and they have all of the regulations as to what you can and can’t do. [For instance], you have to sit there and wait between innings. We are trying to play and they are saying you can’t go yet. As far as being on ESPN, it's exciting, but it's not going to get to us where it impacts us negatively at all.
Q: You guys had a great year (39-13) only to lose 2 of 3 in the OVC tournament, what is your view of what happened?
A: Everybody has bad weekends. The best thing I can tell you though is that it is all part of God’s plan. . . . God tells us to pray and that if you ask for it in the right manner to glorify Him, he will give it to you, but it's on His time and not on our time. We wanted to go to Regionals so badly, but we wanted it on our time. But then we were given an opportunity to go to Regionals and glorify Him. [God] has taught us so much in this and brought us closer together. It's just all Him and I don’t want to take any credit for that.
Q: What was your mentality going up to Knoxville?
A: We knew what we were fighting for and we were fighting with everything that we had. We were just clawing with everything we had to get to the next level. That is the mentality we had going into Knoxville. We lost that first game, but we beat ourselves with errors. So we sat down and talked about it and said to ourselves if it comes down to who wants it the most, we are winning this thing. It really showed that we had more fight. . . . We had the fight that weekend.
[Also], this [past weekend] you could tell in everyone’s eyes and everyone’s actions that no matter what they were doing, whether they were on the field or on the bench, that everyone was giving everything they had. We just fought and gave everything that we had and left it on the field. It was an amazing feeling to know that we put every ounce of effort into [our play] and then we were rewarded for it.
I just hope we can continue it [in Tuscaloosa] because we know what we are fighting for- its going to be an all out battle this weekend.
Q: After having only one hit in the OVC tournament, you hit over 400 in Knoxville. Tell me about that?
A: There again, it’s the Lord. But everyday after practice, I go and take extra work in the cage. Its not just me, a lot of our teammates are getting in the cage to get that repitition. If you are hitting good, you keep feeling good or you can fix something minor. So, [after the OVC] I just went up to the cage and found my swing again. It just felt good. I’ll be in there again today.
Q: Was winning in Knoxville the hilight of your career?
A: Winning the conference tournament last year was awesome and going to Regionals and doing pretty well, but not as good as we wanted to. But, you can’t beat last weekend [because] that’s everyone’s goal to see how far they can go. Our goal since the very beginning of the season was to go to the World Series. Until last year, noone truly believed it could be done. Since last year, our Coaches have been saying “One step further.” Now, that we have taken it one step further, we want to keep it going.
Q: JSU has two big time pitchers in Ashley Eliasson and Karla Pittman. Tell us about working with them?
A: Karla has so much energy and so much fight. She will put you on her back and carry you to wherever you need to go. She has carried this team so much. She can do so much with her fastball and changeup that it is unreal.
Ashley has grown a lot this year. She really grew in the Knoxville tournament. She used the corners so well and stayed up the whole time. She was in the game the whole time mentally.
Q: Your Dad, Butch Barker, was a 2 sport star for JSU. How did that impact your decision to sign with Jax State and what other factors were involved?
A: My family is from right down the road [Alexandria]. I grew up watching JSU and loved the coaches and came here for the coaches. My Mom was big on me staying somewhere close to here so she could support me. I am really glad I did stay close. My family is at every game to support me. She would probably be at practice if I would let her!
Q: How are you doing academically?
A: I’m a marketing major. I have a 3.3 GPA.
Q: What do you want to do when you graduate?
A: I would like to coach in college hopefully. I would like to be a graduate assistant somewhere and get a masters in sports management. I’d love to stay here, but I don’t know what will happen- it will be whereever the Lord leads me.
Q: What are your interests outside of softball?
A: Anything athletic. Also, me and one of my best friends go fishing any free chance we get.
Q: The baseball team is headed to their conference tournament on Wednesday. Are you guys tight with the baseball team?
A: Yes. They come to our games and we go to theirs and scream our lungs out. One of my friends on the baseball team says we have motivated them. . . [They have struggled lately], but you never know what can happen in the tournament. I keep telling my friends [on the baseball team] that if they believe it and fight they can do it. We have seen them beat Georgia twice. . . . We all know they can do it. We wish them the best.
Q: Allie, the Gamecock Nation is proud of you. Good luck this weekend.
A: Thank you.
We want to thank James at www.jsufan.com for the photo above.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
TUESDAY MORNING BREAKFAST LINKS
What better way to start off the day than with a couple of links relating to our JSU Softball team. Way to go ladies! Click HERE and then HERE.
JSU continues to bring in quality student athletes in all areas. Here is a recent one. JSU signs KY All-state soccer player Ariel Jones to National Letter of Intent.
Here are 2 links: Article & Video
The JSU Baseball team didn’t have the regular season they expected, but have made the tournament. They could be a dangerous team there. They start out tomorrow (Wednesday) in the OVC tournament against Morehead State in Paducah, KY. Here’s a PREVIEW.
Watching Charles Barkley play golf may be like watching a train wreck. I’m not sure how he swings the club like he does. HERE, he puts it to use and almost takes out a Bama fan.
Eastern Kentucky gets QB transfer from Marshall. The Eastern Kentucky folks sound like they are expecting a lot from THIS GUY.
Not athletics related, but JSU has put together a terrific video to promote the school to prospective students. What a quality job. Thanks goes to the PR department. TAKE A LOOK.
JSU continues to bring in quality student athletes in all areas. Here is a recent one. JSU signs KY All-state soccer player Ariel Jones to National Letter of Intent.
Here are 2 links: Article & Video
The JSU Baseball team didn’t have the regular season they expected, but have made the tournament. They could be a dangerous team there. They start out tomorrow (Wednesday) in the OVC tournament against Morehead State in Paducah, KY. Here’s a PREVIEW.
Watching Charles Barkley play golf may be like watching a train wreck. I’m not sure how he swings the club like he does. HERE, he puts it to use and almost takes out a Bama fan.
Eastern Kentucky gets QB transfer from Marshall. The Eastern Kentucky folks sound like they are expecting a lot from THIS GUY.
Not athletics related, but JSU has put together a terrific video to promote the school to prospective students. What a quality job. Thanks goes to the PR department. TAKE A LOOK.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Softball Team Makes Some Noise
I guess you know the result by now. JSU sweeps Tennessee in softball to move on to the Super Regional in Tuscaloosa.
Quotes after the game yesterday, originally posted at this site
JACKSONVILLE STATE HEAD COACH JANA MCGINNIS
Opening Statement
“We’re living the dream. That’s been these girls philosophy since the end of the conference tournament when we thought our
season was over and we were getting ready to turn in our equipment, and then found out the NCAA had given us an at-large bid
and put us in the tournament. And I know that at least three of these girls, they came up with the philosophy we’re living the dream,
we’re getting to play another day of softball. I think if any of you watched our games, you saw the excitement, the energy our team
played with and they played like they were living the dream. They had the opportunity to play another day of softball and I couldn’t
be more proud of this team. They fought hard, they earned every play, they earned every run that they scored. Hey, it’s a dream
come true.”
Can you speak to winning three games in one day to move on to the Super Regional?
“It never bothered me with this team. Like I said, this team had the philosophy, coming in here, that we will fight, we will fight, we
will fight until the end. I’ve been on them that you take one inning at a time, one pitch at a time. You don’t look at three games. This
morning when we woke up, all we were focused on was Nebraska, the first inning, the second inning, then the third inning. I’m sure
these girls had the same mentality that I did, it was just one pitch at a time. And we never looked at it as three games. All it ever
seems as one, now it seems like we’ve played 21 innings, basically. That was our philosophy. We were going to play it one pitch at a
time, one play at a time. You can’t look at the third game when you’re playing the first game, you have to take it one pitch at a time.
And I’m proud of these girls.”
Was freshness a factor in bringing in Ashley Eliasson in when you did?
“I think so. When I woke up this morning, and we went to breakfast as a team, I sat there with the coaching staff, I said ‘Ashley
Eliasson is going to be the difference maker today’. She started the Nebraska game, and I knew if she could win the first game, get
the first game for us, (Karla Pittman) Pitt could start the second game for Tennessee. Then we knew Ashley would be in the third
game. It took us a while to decide if we’d start Pitt or would we start Ashley. I’m very proud of both of them. If there was one thing
I knew we’d have an advantage in with going through our regular season, we have two pitchers here who could start for any team
we’ve played against.”
SOPHOMORE PITCHER ASHLEY ELIASSON
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I think that we all learned our lessons last week when we were saying good-bye to all the seniors, crying our eyes out. And we got
another chance. Friday we didn’t take advantage of it, we slept a little, and we realized that this was our second chance and we
weren’t going lose it. So we gave everything we had.”
Did you feel any pressure when you came into the game, in a win or die situation?
“I knew that if I held Tennessee that my team would have my back. If I gave it everything I had, it would be fine. You can’t really put
pressure on yourself, you just gotta play the game because if you put pressure on yourself, you’re just going to fail.”
SENIOR PITCHER KARLA PITTMAN
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I have to go along with her, we did it. Us pitchers, defense, hitting, we all came through. Like I told you I thought we would today,
we came in and won three and shut ‘em out.”
Were you getting tired in the second game?
“I wasn’t getting tired I guess I just wasn’t hitting my corners as good as I was in the first game threw. I wasn’t getting tired I was too
pumped up to get tired.”
SENIOR OUTFIELDER JACKIE JARMAN
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I thought everybody on the team, it was awesome. Everyone contributed, everyone did their job. We’re just living it up.”
On her RBI single to give JSU the 2-1 lead:
“I’m kind of a free swinger up there. I’m pretty aggressive, you know what I mean. I was just looking to put the bat on the ball, really,
just hit it solid. Just see the ball, hit the ball.”
SENIOR CATCHER ALLIE BARKER
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
““I mean, thank you Lord. That’s what I have to say first. Without him, we wouldn’t be here. Like coach said, every day, we yell at
each other, in each other’s faces ‘we’re living the dream’. I think if you guys watched our game, it was give everything you have,
every second you have. Like coach said, for us three, we were turning in our stuff and anybody that’s ever played college sports, it’s
your life. You wake up, go to weights, throw some class in there, go to practice and for me, back to the cage, it’s all day. It’s your
life, really, when we lost in the tournament, it was like my life had been taken away, so to speak, when we got it back, we were going
to make sure we went one step further. That’s been our motto since last year, ‘one step further’. I don’t what else to say, we’re
going one step further.”
On going to Tuscaloosa, where last year you were sent for the regional and being two games from the College World Series:
“I think for me and I think also for the team, we’re going to have to keep doing it like coach said, one game at a time, one pitch at a
time, one play at a time. Not worry about the name on the front of the jersey, just worry about our team, and sticking together, and
playing as a team. When we play as a team, who knows what we can do. Just slow down the game, play it one pitch at a time.”
Here is a link to the OVC website, with an article on the JSU vs. Tennessee games on Sunday...
http://www.ovcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=3739873&db_oem_id=6200
Way to go Gamecocks! You make us proud!!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
HEADED TO REGIONALS – A Q&A WITH GAMECOCK SOFTBALL COACH JANA MCGINNIS
Can we clone Jana McGinnis? The long time Head Coach of JSU’s softball team came to JSU in 1988 as a freshman and helped resuscitate a moribund women’s basketball program. In 1992, at the age of 23, she began coaching softball at JSU. The results have been nothing short of spectacular. Under her leadership, JSU won the OVC in 2005 and 2008, and the Atlantic Sun Tournament title in 1996. She has been conference coach of the year four times.
In 2009, the success continued. The Gamecocks posted a 39-13 record and won the OVC regular season crown. After a disappointing OVC tournament, the softball team became the first JSU sports team to receive an “at large” bid to post-season play.
JSU will play in Knoxville, Tennessee as the #2 seed. They are joined by Nebraska, James Madison and UT, currently ranked #14 in the Country. On the eve of their trip, Coach McGinnis sat down with Gamecockillustrated.com and shared her thoughts on the Regionals, the season in general and what makes JSU a great place.
Q: Are you excited to be headed to Knoxville?
A: We are excited, especially the way our season played out. We had one of the most successful years since I have been coaching and for it to end the way it did to get upset in the conference tournament- I really thought we were done. We were ranked 34th in the Country but I still didn’t know if that would be good enough because when it comes down to selection time the bigger programs get looked at more. I thought that [it] would weigh heavily with us getting beat out of our own tournament. But, we were fortunate enough that over the years our program has built a good reputation and what we did last year along with our RPI ranking, I think it definitely helped.
Q: When are you going?
A: We are leaving at 5:00 [Wednesday]. We will have a practice at 1:10 tomorrow. Each team is allowed an hour and ten minutes. Everything is structured. I tell the girls we are now on the big stage.
Q: You’ve been on the big stage before- will that help?
A: I hope it helps a lot. We have a lot of the same girls back that played at Regionals last year. Every year is different but it definitely helps with our experience. Last year was great. Our girls were excited and [had] fun. I want them to maintain that same mentality. Earlier this week, I heard our seniors telling our freshmen this is the funnest thing you will ever do- and that’s true- the competition is great, the environment is great. It’s what you work for throughout the year. I don’t want our girls to lose the excitement and the fun of this tournament, because its there in the air.
I remember Coach Burgess the first year we advanced to the NCAAs to play Washington, I remember him telling me: “Enjoy every minute of it because a lot of coaches work their entire career and never get to play in an NCAA championship.” So last year, I had flashbacks [to that] and said I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. I’m not going to get stressed out. I am going to try and take in every little thing, from every press conference to every practice and I want our kids to do that too.
Q: What do you know about the teams you will be playing?
A: We are playing Nebraska [first]. Nebraska [has a] great tradition. I think this is their 15th year going to the NCAAs in softball which is very impressive. They will be good. They are very well coached, high energy, very fundamentally sound. They have one [very] good pitcher that they rely on and also have some speed at the top of their lineup.
Q: What about UT?
A: Tennessee is very good. They have speed and they have power. They don’t have Monica Abbott, the Olympic Pitcher, they had for four years that took them to the world series. They don’t have her, but they are a very solid team. Their coaches do a great job.
Q: You beat James Madison [another team in the Knoxville regional] earlier in the year, do you view that as an advantage.
A: I think so, but they now have a new #1 pitcher that we did not face. This girl’s ERA is like 1.4 they may be a different team with her on the mound. But, it’s like I tell our girls, from here on out there’s not a bad team in the tournament. The teams there win and are used to winning. We just need to raise our level and go out and execute.
Q: That’s the scouting report on the other teams; tell us about JSU’s team.
A: Pitching and offense has been our strong points. Our defense is solid. But I would say that if people were giving scouting reports on us, the key to our success was our pitching staff. We have good depth. We have Karla Pittman who was Pitcher of the Year in the Conference. We have Ashley Eliasson, last year’s Freshman of the Year, and she helped carry us to the championship [game] of the Regionals last year.
So I would say this game starts in the pitcher’s circle and we have two good pitchers, but our hitting has also gotten us to this point. We need that to continue if our season has been extended.
Q: You have a hitter named Nikki Prier, hitting 409, tell us a little about her?
A: Nikki is only a junior. She has been very consistent for us throughout her three years. She is a good hitter, a good kid, we rely on her. That was one of the problems in the conference tournament we only had one hit between Nikki and Allie [Barker] that’s just untypical. I don’t know if it’s because the pitchers were honing in on them or what. Throughout the year, they have been very significant. Even if one was off the other would be on. In order for them to be successful, we need them to play their game and hit like we know they can.
Q: Tell us about your big pitchers, Pittman and Eliasson.
A: Pittman is not your typical D1 athlete. If we stretch her she’s probably 5-5, but I have had so many coaches say “Wow, I like that pitcher, she is a bulldog.” A lot of people call her a bulldog, but I jokingly say: “You are our fighting Gamecock.” If she was six feet tall, I don’t know if we would have ever had a chance at signing her. She is very good. She has the best changeup in the game. When her changeup is on she is hard to beat.
Ashley Eliasson is a pitcher that throws a good curveball. She has very good control. When she is on she can very easily start frustrating hitters.
Q: In this format, you play a lot of softball in a short period of time who do you look to after these two?
A: Probably Melissa Dowling or Kayla Collins.
Q: Do you have any significant injuries going into this tournament?
A: No, we are very thankful. We seem to be all well and good to go.
Q: What is UT’s fan support like?
A: It is good. There is a lot of good softball up in Tennessee. They have very good support and very good facilities- its state of the art. You can see the tradition that they have. When you walk into the facility, there is a huge mural of them playing in the World Series in Oklahoma City. They have a life size poster of [former Olympic Pitcher] Monica Abbott in the middle of the facilities. There is just a lot of tradition.
Q: Is there going to be any TV?
A: We won’t know until Thursday. ESPN will tell us when we [have] the head coaches’ meeting.
Q: How was it for a Spring Garden girl to be interviewed on ESPN in primetime last year?
A: I really didn’t realize what it was! The week after the tournament everyone was calling me and saying I saw your interview. [Jana joked that the ESPN technology took out some of her southern accent.] It was fun. A lot of people saw the games. It was amazing how much publicity our University received out of that. We had people all over the country talking to us about it. Our first tournament we recruited at [following the Regionals] there was a Texas team and an Arizona team playing and one of the coaches said: “Congratulations Coach we watched you guys play on TV!” I don’t think our University could have paid for the publicity that we received out of that. It was a big deal.
I also had more emails from alumni that are not even associated with athletics or softball that watched the game. One of the emails said it’s been since the D-2 days since I have had as much pride in JSU as I had in watching the game. So if things like that help build us up that’s great.
Q: What do you think caused the setback in the OVC tournament?
A: I don’t think we overlooked anybody. Our team has not done that, but I don’t think we were prepared for the intensity and the level that the other teams [played at] because if you looked at our scores I think we 8 run ruled everybody in the league except for EIU. [You have to] give the other teams credit they came in and raised their level of play like you should do in the tournament. You could really tell they were trying to salvage their seasons. We didn’t play the level we were capable of playing, but we had some hard shots that [the opposing teams] made great plays on. They came in and raised their level- every team in the tournament that I watched was definitely playing at a higher level than what I saw them play at in the regular season.
Q: Jana, you beat FSU last year, you beat Ole Miss twice this year. What is it that you all have accomplished that has allowed JSU softball to compete at a national level?
A: One thing that our softball team has is a lot of pride in our school. We don’t have a lot of athletes sitting here mad because they didn’t get to go what we call “big time.” The majority of our kids wanted to be at JSU. For instance, Allie Barker, our catcher. She grew up on JSU, her dad [JSU legend] Butch Barker played at JSU. Allie could have been successful as a catcher in the SEC, but she wanted to play at JSU.
But those that don’t know our program- when they get here- we have traditions that we do. It doesn’t take long before our players gain pride in JSU. One thing that we do- all newcomers have to learn our fight song. There are little things that we do to instill that pride in our school. It’s the pride we had back in the D2 days that JSU had, and it didn’t matter, we knew that when we walked on the field we were going to win. We never let our girls say we are not supposed to win this game because we are a smaller school. We never let them make that as an excuse.
Q: Tell us a little about your recruiting philosophy?
A lot of our kids are not what you call high profile recruits. What we try to do is try to find good athletes with good character that are winners. It seems to work out for us. [Sometimes with high profile athletes], we may steer away from them because they don’t have the attitude or personality that fits into our program. I learned a long time ago [based on] advice from Coach Abbott, recruit the kids that fit your personality and the personality that you want your program to have.
Q: What do you sell about JSU in the recruiting process?
A: It’s the people! The people and we have a beautiful campus too. When we bring our recruits in and we take them around campus, they meet Ann Cohen, at our academic center. They get to meet the people in our athletic department and [after doing that] many of the players and their parents say things like: “We really feel comfortable at this place” or
“we really feel like this place cares about our daughter and its not just about softball.” I think that’s our selling point. While our facility may not be the nicest one that they can play in, it goes far beyond that. We just try to develop the trust that we are going to take care of your daughter. It’s not just about wins. We want [our kids] to get their degree.
Q: Speaking of degrees, what have you done to have such an outstanding academic record?
A: It starts with signing good kids that are good students that have a goal of getting a college degree. We ask them that before they ever [arrive]. We try to sign good kids with good grades from the start.
We [also] have a wall of excellence outside of my office. You can make the grand slam club, the home run club or the rbi club. The rbi club is 3.0 to 3.49, the home run club is 3.5 or higher, the grand slam club is 4.0. After each semester, their names go up on the wall. Believe it or not, kids like to see their names up on the wall. Pittman, for the first time ever, made our wall last semester. That’s the first thing she said when I arrived at practice was: “Coach my name’s going to be up on the wall!”
We also divide our team up into academic teams. The team that wins gets [incentives] like getting to make out the practice schedule. We don’t care what they put in there. You will be surprised, [the girls] are very competitive with it. The players on the academic teams will challenge each other [to do well academically]. It’s that inner-competition in the classroom. This year we only had one D on the entire team.
Q: I notice you all have a new scoreboard what are some things that you want to do to improve the facilities?
A: Well we love where we are at. It’s the prettiest place on campus. At the tournament we just hosted, we received so many compliments from the other participants. They said [things like]: “this is the best atmosphere for softball.” The fans could sit up in the outfield are in the bleachers. One dad from California said: “This is absolutely beautiful. I don’t know many places you can play softball and look up and see mountains, but then you can also look out and see a little bit of campus.” We love that spot where our softball field is.
My wish list is to one day have wrap around stadium seating and sunken dug outs and possibly a players facility with locker rooms and a training area. But, until then, I’m just going to try and do it with private donations. We are going to dress it up from the outside in to try and make it a D1 facility. Last year we bought a big wrap for our batting cage with Gamecock softball on it. We also have the new scoreboard. It really makes our field look so much better. I also want to do little things, like banners commemorating some of our success and getting some photos of current or former players. If the school is not going to do the seating or the dugouts, we can do little things to dress our facility up. [Editor’s Note: Can’t we use some stimulus money to reward the success of this group of winners?].
Q: As a long time JSU coach and player what can we do to increase fan support?
A: We need to market [all of our successes]. [It would be great to have] billboards for our rifle team that finished third in the nation, our tennis team won the OVC championship and went to FSU for a regional, our baseball team has [been] dominant in the OVC, they beat the #1 team in the nation this year. Our golf team is [very good]. Our team this year had close to a 3.4 GPA, we should flood the market with the positives of JSU.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not coaching softball?
A: I like to relax with my family! I like to sit back on the creek bank by my house. I also run every day.
Q: Give us an update on your sister?
A: She’s doing great. She’s helping her husband Coach basketball at Spring Garden. They have won three state championships. They are working on their future. Last year was the first time in eight years they did not advance to the final four.
THANK YOU COACH MCGINNIS AND THE WOMEN’S SOFTBALL TEAM FOR YOUR GREAT PERFORMANCE! GOOD LUCK IN THE REGIONALS.
In 2009, the success continued. The Gamecocks posted a 39-13 record and won the OVC regular season crown. After a disappointing OVC tournament, the softball team became the first JSU sports team to receive an “at large” bid to post-season play.
JSU will play in Knoxville, Tennessee as the #2 seed. They are joined by Nebraska, James Madison and UT, currently ranked #14 in the Country. On the eve of their trip, Coach McGinnis sat down with Gamecockillustrated.com and shared her thoughts on the Regionals, the season in general and what makes JSU a great place.
Q: Are you excited to be headed to Knoxville?
A: We are excited, especially the way our season played out. We had one of the most successful years since I have been coaching and for it to end the way it did to get upset in the conference tournament- I really thought we were done. We were ranked 34th in the Country but I still didn’t know if that would be good enough because when it comes down to selection time the bigger programs get looked at more. I thought that [it] would weigh heavily with us getting beat out of our own tournament. But, we were fortunate enough that over the years our program has built a good reputation and what we did last year along with our RPI ranking, I think it definitely helped.
Q: When are you going?
A: We are leaving at 5:00 [Wednesday]. We will have a practice at 1:10 tomorrow. Each team is allowed an hour and ten minutes. Everything is structured. I tell the girls we are now on the big stage.
Q: You’ve been on the big stage before- will that help?
A: I hope it helps a lot. We have a lot of the same girls back that played at Regionals last year. Every year is different but it definitely helps with our experience. Last year was great. Our girls were excited and [had] fun. I want them to maintain that same mentality. Earlier this week, I heard our seniors telling our freshmen this is the funnest thing you will ever do- and that’s true- the competition is great, the environment is great. It’s what you work for throughout the year. I don’t want our girls to lose the excitement and the fun of this tournament, because its there in the air.
I remember Coach Burgess the first year we advanced to the NCAAs to play Washington, I remember him telling me: “Enjoy every minute of it because a lot of coaches work their entire career and never get to play in an NCAA championship.” So last year, I had flashbacks [to that] and said I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. I’m not going to get stressed out. I am going to try and take in every little thing, from every press conference to every practice and I want our kids to do that too.
Q: What do you know about the teams you will be playing?
A: We are playing Nebraska [first]. Nebraska [has a] great tradition. I think this is their 15th year going to the NCAAs in softball which is very impressive. They will be good. They are very well coached, high energy, very fundamentally sound. They have one [very] good pitcher that they rely on and also have some speed at the top of their lineup.
Q: What about UT?
A: Tennessee is very good. They have speed and they have power. They don’t have Monica Abbott, the Olympic Pitcher, they had for four years that took them to the world series. They don’t have her, but they are a very solid team. Their coaches do a great job.
Q: You beat James Madison [another team in the Knoxville regional] earlier in the year, do you view that as an advantage.
A: I think so, but they now have a new #1 pitcher that we did not face. This girl’s ERA is like 1.4 they may be a different team with her on the mound. But, it’s like I tell our girls, from here on out there’s not a bad team in the tournament. The teams there win and are used to winning. We just need to raise our level and go out and execute.
Q: That’s the scouting report on the other teams; tell us about JSU’s team.
A: Pitching and offense has been our strong points. Our defense is solid. But I would say that if people were giving scouting reports on us, the key to our success was our pitching staff. We have good depth. We have Karla Pittman who was Pitcher of the Year in the Conference. We have Ashley Eliasson, last year’s Freshman of the Year, and she helped carry us to the championship [game] of the Regionals last year.
So I would say this game starts in the pitcher’s circle and we have two good pitchers, but our hitting has also gotten us to this point. We need that to continue if our season has been extended.
Q: You have a hitter named Nikki Prier, hitting 409, tell us a little about her?
A: Nikki is only a junior. She has been very consistent for us throughout her three years. She is a good hitter, a good kid, we rely on her. That was one of the problems in the conference tournament we only had one hit between Nikki and Allie [Barker] that’s just untypical. I don’t know if it’s because the pitchers were honing in on them or what. Throughout the year, they have been very significant. Even if one was off the other would be on. In order for them to be successful, we need them to play their game and hit like we know they can.
Q: Tell us about your big pitchers, Pittman and Eliasson.
A: Pittman is not your typical D1 athlete. If we stretch her she’s probably 5-5, but I have had so many coaches say “Wow, I like that pitcher, she is a bulldog.” A lot of people call her a bulldog, but I jokingly say: “You are our fighting Gamecock.” If she was six feet tall, I don’t know if we would have ever had a chance at signing her. She is very good. She has the best changeup in the game. When her changeup is on she is hard to beat.
Ashley Eliasson is a pitcher that throws a good curveball. She has very good control. When she is on she can very easily start frustrating hitters.
Q: In this format, you play a lot of softball in a short period of time who do you look to after these two?
A: Probably Melissa Dowling or Kayla Collins.
Q: Do you have any significant injuries going into this tournament?
A: No, we are very thankful. We seem to be all well and good to go.
Q: What is UT’s fan support like?
A: It is good. There is a lot of good softball up in Tennessee. They have very good support and very good facilities- its state of the art. You can see the tradition that they have. When you walk into the facility, there is a huge mural of them playing in the World Series in Oklahoma City. They have a life size poster of [former Olympic Pitcher] Monica Abbott in the middle of the facilities. There is just a lot of tradition.
Q: Is there going to be any TV?
A: We won’t know until Thursday. ESPN will tell us when we [have] the head coaches’ meeting.
Q: How was it for a Spring Garden girl to be interviewed on ESPN in primetime last year?
A: I really didn’t realize what it was! The week after the tournament everyone was calling me and saying I saw your interview. [Jana joked that the ESPN technology took out some of her southern accent.] It was fun. A lot of people saw the games. It was amazing how much publicity our University received out of that. We had people all over the country talking to us about it. Our first tournament we recruited at [following the Regionals] there was a Texas team and an Arizona team playing and one of the coaches said: “Congratulations Coach we watched you guys play on TV!” I don’t think our University could have paid for the publicity that we received out of that. It was a big deal.
I also had more emails from alumni that are not even associated with athletics or softball that watched the game. One of the emails said it’s been since the D-2 days since I have had as much pride in JSU as I had in watching the game. So if things like that help build us up that’s great.
Q: What do you think caused the setback in the OVC tournament?
A: I don’t think we overlooked anybody. Our team has not done that, but I don’t think we were prepared for the intensity and the level that the other teams [played at] because if you looked at our scores I think we 8 run ruled everybody in the league except for EIU. [You have to] give the other teams credit they came in and raised their level of play like you should do in the tournament. You could really tell they were trying to salvage their seasons. We didn’t play the level we were capable of playing, but we had some hard shots that [the opposing teams] made great plays on. They came in and raised their level- every team in the tournament that I watched was definitely playing at a higher level than what I saw them play at in the regular season.
Q: Jana, you beat FSU last year, you beat Ole Miss twice this year. What is it that you all have accomplished that has allowed JSU softball to compete at a national level?
A: One thing that our softball team has is a lot of pride in our school. We don’t have a lot of athletes sitting here mad because they didn’t get to go what we call “big time.” The majority of our kids wanted to be at JSU. For instance, Allie Barker, our catcher. She grew up on JSU, her dad [JSU legend] Butch Barker played at JSU. Allie could have been successful as a catcher in the SEC, but she wanted to play at JSU.
But those that don’t know our program- when they get here- we have traditions that we do. It doesn’t take long before our players gain pride in JSU. One thing that we do- all newcomers have to learn our fight song. There are little things that we do to instill that pride in our school. It’s the pride we had back in the D2 days that JSU had, and it didn’t matter, we knew that when we walked on the field we were going to win. We never let our girls say we are not supposed to win this game because we are a smaller school. We never let them make that as an excuse.
Q: Tell us a little about your recruiting philosophy?
A lot of our kids are not what you call high profile recruits. What we try to do is try to find good athletes with good character that are winners. It seems to work out for us. [Sometimes with high profile athletes], we may steer away from them because they don’t have the attitude or personality that fits into our program. I learned a long time ago [based on] advice from Coach Abbott, recruit the kids that fit your personality and the personality that you want your program to have.
Q: What do you sell about JSU in the recruiting process?
A: It’s the people! The people and we have a beautiful campus too. When we bring our recruits in and we take them around campus, they meet Ann Cohen, at our academic center. They get to meet the people in our athletic department and [after doing that] many of the players and their parents say things like: “We really feel comfortable at this place” or
“we really feel like this place cares about our daughter and its not just about softball.” I think that’s our selling point. While our facility may not be the nicest one that they can play in, it goes far beyond that. We just try to develop the trust that we are going to take care of your daughter. It’s not just about wins. We want [our kids] to get their degree.
Q: Speaking of degrees, what have you done to have such an outstanding academic record?
A: It starts with signing good kids that are good students that have a goal of getting a college degree. We ask them that before they ever [arrive]. We try to sign good kids with good grades from the start.
We [also] have a wall of excellence outside of my office. You can make the grand slam club, the home run club or the rbi club. The rbi club is 3.0 to 3.49, the home run club is 3.5 or higher, the grand slam club is 4.0. After each semester, their names go up on the wall. Believe it or not, kids like to see their names up on the wall. Pittman, for the first time ever, made our wall last semester. That’s the first thing she said when I arrived at practice was: “Coach my name’s going to be up on the wall!”
We also divide our team up into academic teams. The team that wins gets [incentives] like getting to make out the practice schedule. We don’t care what they put in there. You will be surprised, [the girls] are very competitive with it. The players on the academic teams will challenge each other [to do well academically]. It’s that inner-competition in the classroom. This year we only had one D on the entire team.
Q: I notice you all have a new scoreboard what are some things that you want to do to improve the facilities?
A: Well we love where we are at. It’s the prettiest place on campus. At the tournament we just hosted, we received so many compliments from the other participants. They said [things like]: “this is the best atmosphere for softball.” The fans could sit up in the outfield are in the bleachers. One dad from California said: “This is absolutely beautiful. I don’t know many places you can play softball and look up and see mountains, but then you can also look out and see a little bit of campus.” We love that spot where our softball field is.
My wish list is to one day have wrap around stadium seating and sunken dug outs and possibly a players facility with locker rooms and a training area. But, until then, I’m just going to try and do it with private donations. We are going to dress it up from the outside in to try and make it a D1 facility. Last year we bought a big wrap for our batting cage with Gamecock softball on it. We also have the new scoreboard. It really makes our field look so much better. I also want to do little things, like banners commemorating some of our success and getting some photos of current or former players. If the school is not going to do the seating or the dugouts, we can do little things to dress our facility up. [Editor’s Note: Can’t we use some stimulus money to reward the success of this group of winners?].
Q: As a long time JSU coach and player what can we do to increase fan support?
A: We need to market [all of our successes]. [It would be great to have] billboards for our rifle team that finished third in the nation, our tennis team won the OVC championship and went to FSU for a regional, our baseball team has [been] dominant in the OVC, they beat the #1 team in the nation this year. Our golf team is [very good]. Our team this year had close to a 3.4 GPA, we should flood the market with the positives of JSU.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not coaching softball?
A: I like to relax with my family! I like to sit back on the creek bank by my house. I also run every day.
Q: Give us an update on your sister?
A: She’s doing great. She’s helping her husband Coach basketball at Spring Garden. They have won three state championships. They are working on their future. Last year was the first time in eight years they did not advance to the final four.
THANK YOU COACH MCGINNIS AND THE WOMEN’S SOFTBALL TEAM FOR YOUR GREAT PERFORMANCE! GOOD LUCK IN THE REGIONALS.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Spring Sports Update
Softball - the #1 Seeded Lady Cocks dropped their opener to Tennessee Tech and will have to win out to capture the OVC title.
Baseball- travels to Tennessee Tech for a critical weekend series as they fight for a high seed in the upcoming OVC tournament.
Tennis- a fine season ended today at the hands of FSU in the national tournament.
Baseball- travels to Tennessee Tech for a critical weekend series as they fight for a high seed in the upcoming OVC tournament.
Tennis- a fine season ended today at the hands of FSU in the national tournament.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
HE'S BACK
The Gamecocks running game received a much needed boost on news that Tremayne Coger will return to the team. Coger was a 4 Star Recruit from Tennessee that originally signed with Alabama. Croger transferred to JSU in 2008, but had a series of injuries beginning with a concussion when Morrell Jones lit him up in practice. After sitting out against Tech and A&M, Coger seemed to be finding his stride rushing for over 100 yards against UTC. The 1000+ Gamecock fans that attended that game got a glimpse of the speed that Coger brings to the table. A couple of weeks later, Coger hurt his knee against SEMO and decided to leave school. An added bonus about Coger, he was a defensive back at Alabama. While my guess is the Cocks will play him at running back, Coger's flexibility is a plus for the Gamecocks.
This is big news, although it remains to be seen whether Coger will be eligible for the 2009 season. More transfers could be on the way. We might be so good that they will have to expand the Stadium.
JSU 88
This is big news, although it remains to be seen whether Coger will be eligible for the 2009 season. More transfers could be on the way. We might be so good that they will have to expand the Stadium.
JSU 88
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