Rounding the base, sophomore Carolyn Clayton runs toward second during the first scrimmage on Sept. 28. Clayton, a transfer from Weatherford College, was an outfielder for the Lady Bisons. Matt Dobson Junior Jessica Greene catches the ball during the scrimmage versus Ecclesia College.The game marked the grand opening of the new softball complex, which took six months to construct. Matt Dobson With a powerful swing, freshman Courtney Chambers hits the ball during the Sept. 28 game. The Lady Bisons won both games of the double header with scores of 1-0 and 12-4. Matt Dobson NEW TEAM, NEW FAMILY H arding grew continuously in many aspects including academics, organizations, faith and athletics. In the spring of 2013, softbal-I was added to the list of 16 men and women's NCAA Division II athletic tfams which already included cross-country, golf and football. While Harding previously had a softball team from 1980 to 1985, the team was disbanded due to a lack of collegiate competition. After making · preparations including building a softball stadium and finding a head coach, Harding was ready to debut its softball team in the fall of 2013. The 19-player team included 12 freshmen, four sophomores and three juniors. Head coach Phil Berry, who graduated from Harding in 1984, had a history of establishing new softball teams. In 2005, Berry revived a dormant softball program at North Cobb Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga., and served as the head middle school coach until 2009. From 2010 until joining Harding's program, Berry was the assistant coach for the high school. He said he was thrilled to lead another newly created team. "We are ~xcited to be a part of the Harding sports family," Berry said. "We look forward to the support thi3t surrounds this university. We ·know this is a great place for us to be." Sophomore Carolyn Clayto.n, a kinesiology maj0r and outfielder, played softball for 16 years before transferring from Weatherford College to join the Harding t~am. "The environment here and what the school is based on really helped my decision," Clayton said. "I was looking for something that was deeper than just showing up at a class, and Harding has that." After three fall dates for competition, the young team and Berry were able to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. "Our biggest strength is offense," Berry said. "We are able to score runs in bunches. We are growing and getting better defensively. With a young pitching staff and different styles of pitchers, we are working hard every day." The overall strength of the team was its atmosphere of family and faith. Madison Wickline, a freshman outfielder, was enthusiastic about her new family. "Each girl brings a positive aspect to the team, and I love practicing with them,'' Wickline said. "With each family you're going to have misunderstandings, but they only bring us closer together. Practicing with my girls is my favorite part of the day." Berry was adamant about how he expected his team to perform, saying that it was not about wins and losses. "Our expectations are to perform the best we can every day," Berry said. "One of our themes is 'It's not about me. It's about we.' We strive to not only improve ourselves but to improve the team as a whole. Wins and losses define themselves. We will always worry about game one, pitch one and the first at bat, we will let the results speak for themselves." Berry and his team intended to play with that attitude throughout the season beginning with the team's first game on Feb. 2 against Missouri Western State University. Landis Tindell
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==