University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Softball Opening Season on Friday Against Islanders
2/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON, Texas (2/12/09) The North Texas softball team opens its season on Friday, Feb. 13 when the Mean Green faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Corpus Christi Invitational at 3 pm. The Mean Green will also play Creighton, Detroit Mercy and Indiana State in the three-day tournament.
With 10 newcomers on the squad, the 2009 team looks a lot different than in years past. What has remained constant for the last four years is the play of seniors Sarah Jones and Kadie Platt. Starters since their freshman year, the duo have handled the pressure of being the lone returning seniors and competing for starting positions alongside a talented freshman class. The two have come a long way since their freshman year, but still have the same combination of nerves and excitement for the start of a new season.
“With this being my last year, I am really excited,” said Jones. “These next three months, I want to be the best three months I have ever had. There is also pressure; I don’t want to have a bad senior year.”
“The same excitement is there,” said Platt. “As a senior, it is different. There is a different nervousness to kick things off. It is also bittersweet because this is our last season.”
The two Oklahoma natives have been paired together since their recruiting trip as high school seniors. They were roommates as freshman; luckily, the two were instant friends. They have roomed together ever since, call each other sisters and state that they have never fought.
When they came in as freshman in 2006, they were the only ones in their class. As a result, they had to take care of all the freshman duties by themselves. Jones and Platt would come out to practice, balancing a soft-toss net, two buckets of balls, their bat bags and a hitting tees.
With this year’s large class, the freshman duties are divided up among nine players. When the seniors hear the younger girls complain, their reply is, “I think you are pretty lucky.” Jones and Platt also started their careers without a Lovelace Stadium (the team’s home field) and a locker room. They played at a city park and changed in their dorm rooms or at the park bathrooms.
“We remind the girls about everything,” said Platt.
As freshman, they also had to handle the pressure of starting in their first year. Jones won the job at second base, while Platt found a home in right field. Platt had a solid freshman year, finishing fourth on the team with a .267 batting average and posting just three errors in the outfield.
Jones has seen her offensive statistics rise each year, posting personal bests last year as a junior. She also moved over to third base in her third year without missing a beat. As a junior, Jones finished fifth on the team in batting average (.276) and hits (40), while starting 46 games at either second or third base.
Platt’s average dipped as a sophomore, but she started her junior year on fire. She hit .254 in her third year as a starter in right field. Her junior campaign was cut short after breaking her hand, but she came back to help out the team as a pinch runner down the stretch.
“I hope to bring my level of play back up for my senior year,” said Platt. “I know as a leader I am expected to do well, but for myself I want to go out strong.”
Coming into their senior season, both players felt the pressure of competing for the starting roles they had held for three years. Head coach TJ Hubbard brought in a talented freshman class, full of speed and versatility. Jones competed for the position at shortstop, her third position in four years at North Texas.
“I felt a lot of pressure, especially since I was moving to a new position,” said Jones. “When I was a freshman, there was no one at second base. It was just me and Kadie competing for the position and then Kadie was moved to the outfield.”
Yet, Jones cemented her hold on the shortstop position.
“Sarah Jones was the firm leader this spring, the strongest one at shortstop,” said Hubbard. “She wanted to play there, she wanted to be there. She took that spot over.”
Platt also stepped up to the challenge, coming back as a senior, better and stronger, according to Hubbard.
“The young girls are influencing us in so many ways,” said Platt. “They are making a great impact. They are so young, but they are so ready to play. It causes a lot of competitiveness to come out, but that’s good.”
As the only seniors who have been in the program all four years, Jones and Platt have had the interesting job of getting 10 newcomers (seven freshman and three transfers) adjusted to life at North Texas.
We are outnumbered so it is hard,” said Platt. “But at the same time it’s easy because they are a nice bunch of girls who are willing to listen and work hard.”
With the solid combination of newcomers and returners, the Mean Green is looking to top last year’s record-setting season. North Texas returns home next weekend to host the Sleep Inn Classic.
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