Underclassmen have played a big part in the West Virginia State softball team's start, and a look at the Yellow Jackets roster proves there are plenty of opportunities for younger players to make a splash in 2016.
Of the 16 players on WVSU's roster, all but three of them are either freshmen or sophomores. While the handful of veterans State employs are integral to the team's prospects this year, the Yellow Jackets' youth movement has been strong.
The Yellow Jackets, who finished last season at 27-18 overall and 14-12 in the Mountain East Conference, were picked in the preseason to finish fourth out of six in the MEC's South Division. Yet, State enters Saturday's 11 a.m. game versus WVU Tech in the Coker College tournament in Hartsville, South Carolina, at 3-1 and winner of two straight.
A big boost to State's roster is that, while the team may be young, it does feature experience, especially in its pitching staff. Sophomores Allyson Burgess, Chelsey Parkins and Calli Norton, who started 36 of the team's 45 games last year, are back. Burgess threw a complete-game three-hit shutout in WVSU's season-opening 4-0 win over Belmont Abbey.
The Yellow Jackets' strength at season's start, however, has been their hitting. WVSU enters today's game as the only MEC team batting above .300, at .355. It also has the conference's best slugging percentage (.435), is 10 RBIs ahead of the next best MEC competitor (25) and is tied for second with the University of Virginia College at Wise for fewest strikeouts (11).
Another trio of young players has led that charge - freshmen Brookelyn Hale and Nichole Brown and sophomore Allyson Funk. Hale, Brown and Funk are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, in the MEC in batting average. Hale is hitting .571, while Nitro product Brown and Winfield product Funk each are hitting .500. Brown has gone 7 of 14 at the plate, while Funk has gone 4 of 8.
Upperclassmen may be in short supply for the Yellow Jackets, but all three - seniors Sydney Kaplan and Dee Dee Loftis and junior Summer Sword - have made significant contributions to the team's early success. All three have started all four of State's games. Kaplan, a Cabell Midland graduate, started in left field. Loftis, a Sissonville graduate, started at third base and Sword, a Man graduate, started at first base.
Kaplan, last season's team batting leader with a .379 average and 34 RBIs, is hitting .412 so far this year with two home runs, four RBIs and a .765 slugging percentage. Both Sword and Loftis are also hitting above .300, Sword at .364 and Loftis at .308.
The Yellow Jackets, under the tutelage of third-year head coach Kerri Blackwell, will be on the road for a while before getting their first chance at playing in Institute. Following this weekend's tournament in Hartsville, State is scheduled for tournaments in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Salem, Virginia, before its home opener March 16, a doubleheader against UVa-Wise.