PRCC softball coach White pleased with fall workouts

POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College women softball coach Leigh White feels confident the talent is there for a successful 2012 season. The only issue now is experience. The roster for the Lady Wildcats features only four sophomores. We have a lot of talent and a lot of potential, said White. All these freshmen have got to get some experience, and you do that by playing games. Gone from last year 21-23 team are all-state players Brandy Rester and Jordan Adams. Back is sophomore Heather Hester of Picayune, a pitcher and one of the team hitting hitters. Heather looked good throwing the ball this fall, said White. Freshmen Neely McCrary of Petal and Brittney Leblanc of Lafayette, La., have the talent to make this a strong pitching corps for the Lady Wildcats. Pitching was our biggest weakness last year because we did not have much depth, said White. Heather did a great job, but she had to carry us. I feel like we will hit the ball better this year. The Lady Wildcats went through six weeks of fall drills, including two playing dates. They split a twinbill with William Carey University and won two of three games in a tournament at Belhaven College. The pitching and catching is there for us, said White. We just have to do our part on defense and hit the ball. All four of our sophomores can hit the ball. We have a little bit of speed, so we can do some things like steal a few bases. We will also have some power hitters. One of them is sophomore catcher Janessa Dedeaux of Poplarville, who hit .315 last season as the first baseman. Her position is catcher, said White. She handles our pitchers well. She calls a good game. Freshmen Hillary Dickens of Picayune and Christina Hart of Northshore in Slidell, La. are working at first base. Amanda Emerson has moved from the outfield to play second base. Sophomore Alyssa Graeter of Poplarville is the shortstop and Hart is also competing for time at third base. Competing for playing time in the outfield are sophomore ETrareo Warren of Meridian, and freshmen Whitney Waits of Oak Grove, Shannon Brown of Petal, Shalyn Stevens of Picayune, and Kayla Johnston of Hancock High School. Other members of the team are freshmen Alyssa Bradley of Leakesville, Morghan Cuevas of Purvis and Rachel Breland of Poplarville. If we stay healthy, our pitching continues to improve, then we have a shot in the South Division, said White. Those are the big things. This group works hard. Last year we hit the ball okay, but we were not very consistent. We will be more consistent this year. We will put the ball in play. The Lady Wildcats will kick off the season the second week in February. The winner of the North Division will host the eight-team single-elimination state tournament. Assisting White again this season is former PRCC All-American Maghan James, graduate assistant and former PRCC player Kim Boutwell and student assistant Kirsten Perry of Sumrall.

Lee White record

Year Won Lost
2004 26 17
2005 19 14
2006 17 16
2007 25 31
2008 27 10
2009 30 16
2010 32 12
2011 21 23
Total 197 139

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