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The Victoria College. Full-time salaried position with benefits available...
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Such is the case with the University of Houston-Victoria Jaguars softball team. The 19th-ranked Jaguars (30-16) learned late Sunday night that they had accomplished their lofty goal of reaching the NAIA Region VI tournament in their first year of existence.
“Pack your bags, we’re going to regionals” was coach Keri Lambeth’s text message to her players Sunday night after she received the news.
Now, as they prepare for Thursday’s and Friday’s six-team, double-elimination tournament in Farmers Branch, the Jaguars are talking “nationals”– as in the 28th annual NAIA National Softball Championships on May 16-21 in Decatur, Ala.
The winners of the 13 regional tournaments automatically advance to Decatur. That leaves seven at-large berths. If UHV can hold its own in Farmers Branch and maintain its No. 19 ranking, Lambeth could possibly be sending another happy text message to her team and the Jaguars may have to once again update their No. 1 goal.
“Now we want to win a bid to the national tournament,” Lambeth said before Tuesday’s practice at the St. Joseph-O’Connor complex. “We can definitely get an at-large bid.”
A first-year program advancing all the way to the national tournament? Impossible, you might say.
But before you discount Lambeth’s confidence as merely Norman Vincent Peale balderdash, consider this:
• UHV has already beaten its first-round regional tournament foe, Northwood University, twice this season by scores of 10-5 and 15-5.
• The Jaguars have also defeated the Region VI tournament’s top two seeds – Oklahoma City University and Saint Gregory’s (Okla.).
• And UHV is playing its best softball of the season. The Jaguars have won eight of their last nine games and 13 of its last 17. UHV ended the regular season with perhaps its best performances of the season with 5-1 and 2-0 victories over an NCAA Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor team that came to Victoria with a 24-game win streak.
“We’re really looking forward to playing (Northwood, Oklahoma City and Saint Gregory’s) again because we have improved so much,” first baseman Lindsey Ferguson said.
Mores ups than downs
The Jaguars struggled out of the gate this season. That was to be expected since many of the players had never met each other until the start of the fall semester.
UHV went 3-2 against junior college competition at the Galveston College Island Classic. The Jaguars also took their lumps as they traveled to Austin, Fort Worth and Lubbock to compete against top NAIA teams.
“We had some games where we didn’t show up,” Lambeth said. “But I still knew we were one of the top six teams in our region. That’s why I made the schedule so difficult. That’s what prepares you for the postseason.”
The Jaguars’ turnaround began in mid-March at the Gulf Coast Invitational in Orange Beach, Ala. UHV defeated defending national champion Oklahoma City 4-2 to win the consolation title of the tournament’s top bracket. Then at the Capital City Classic in Oklahoma City on April 18-19, the Jaguars defeated two nationally ranked teams before losing to Oklahoma City 5-0 in the championship game.
“They’re a very talented group of young athletes,” Lambeth said. “I knew once we got everything situated, who was going to play what position, what our batting order would be, it would all just come together.”
Through it all, the Jaguars have been able to maintain their team chemistry.
“We try to turn every negative into a positive, no matter what it is,” Lambeth said. “When you run a disciplined program, there’s no time for drama.”
The Jaguars have been able to avoid prolonged internal conflicts with open dialogue. There’s not much else for young women to do on long bus rides back from Lubbock, Oklahoma City, Louisiana, and Alabama but talk to one another
“Everybody has their ups and downs, but we’ve worked through them,” third baseman Erin Litvik said. “When we need to talk things out, we’ll talk them out.”
“We’ve all gotten pretty close, even with coach,” left fielder Kasey Voyles said. “At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure of what to expect.”
Coy Slavik is the Sports Editor for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-574-1206 or e-mail him at cslavik@vicad.com.