LSU softball head coach Yvette Girouard and her staff met with the media Wednesday to preview the 2008 season. Following are quotes gathered Wednesday from Girouard, associate head coach James DeFeo, assistant coach Megan Smith and several key Tiger softball players.
HEAD COACH YVETTE GIROUARD
Opening statement…
“I think this will be my last opportunity before he steps down as our athletic director, but I want to publicly thank Skip (Bertman) for everything that he has done for the LSU softball program, the players and me personally. He has been very involved with the team and took a keen interest in our sport. The facility that is being erected as we speak has a lot to do with him. He has been a good friend and is the best boss I have ever worked for.”
On how the team has prepared for the upcoming season…
“We have been practicing for some time now. This team is so ready to get started. Our theme this year has been ?respect.’ They have taken that literally in all facets of the word. This team has done more community service hours than any team we have had at LSU. I am very proud of these young women for taking such an active part in our community. We have challenged them with that theme since our first meeting in the locker room. It is about respect for everything. Everything counts ? the program, players, staff, institution and the purple and gold they wear.”
On how it has been coaching this team…
“We have that intangible that coaches always talk about and that is unbelievable team chemistry. It has been a pleasure for me to get out of the car and walk to the field and encounter, embrace and coach this team. They are a low-maintenance group that is just fun to be around.”
On the expectations for this season…
“Expectations are always the same. We have dominated the SEC and won the SEC Tournament last year. We couldn’t quite finish it on the last week of conference play. We were one game away from wining a conference championship. The expectations are the same. We want to win all three crowns. We have to protect the SEC West first, then the overall title followed by the tournament championship. Those are the goals that we talk about.”
On their schedule…
“The schedule is kind of the off year at home. Last year we had all the big teams here with Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. This year we go on the road and encounter all the big teams. We start off the league schedule with Georgia at home. Georgia has been a real thorn in our side over the years. We cost ourselves the overall SEC Championship last year, but Georgia had a lot to do with it during that last weekend of SEC play. We are really looking forward to that weekend. We are facing teams at home this season that have never been to Tiger Park and that is always interesting to see. We go out to Palm Springs (for the Palm Springs Classic), which is an incredible tournament that ESPN covers. The coverage of that tournament is incredible.”
On this being the last season playing at Tiger Park…
“Of course we are saying good bye to Tiger Park. We are giving it a face lift because we are hosting the SEC Championships this year. It will probably mark one of the final two times that the tournament occurs on a college campus because there is a move to build a permanent facility in Orange Beach. This is also the last season we are going to see this format for the tournament with two games on Saturday and one on Sunday. The coaches have been trying to get this passed for many years and thanks to Judy (Southard) and Skip (Bertman), who were very instrumental in getting the other athletic directors to go along with it, it happened. Starting in 2009, it will be a Friday, Saturday and Sunday series just like it is with baseball. I think it is a phenomenal move for the game. It is a huge advantage for the fans and makes for an unbelievable atmosphere for the athletes so they are not on the field for 10 hours on Saturday.”
On the pitchers this year…
“Dani (Hofer) will obviously be called on to shoulder most of the burden. She really came in to her own last year. She was a first-team All-SEC selection and was the MVP of the SEC Tournament. What I really like about Dani this year is that she has a personality all of a sudden. She didn’t talk very much when she first got here but she has been coming out with some really good one-liners lately. I am always fond of saying I am going to write a book one day and Emily (Turner) will definitely have a chapter in the book, but Dani will have some pages with some of the things she has said lately. She is developing a personality on this team. That is awesome because she will be counted on heavily.”
“Cody Trahan, from everything we saw in the fall and what we are seeing now, can be a huge weapon for the Tigers and will be a dominating pitcher if her health holds up. She does have some back problems and has already had one disk removed. At the age of 20 years old, you only have so many discs you can lose. Ana Gross is our trainer and has done a phenomenal job of taking care of Cody. So far everything looks good but we have to be really smart with her. I think we will have a good 1-2 punch with those two.”
“Tiffany Garcia is our senior who is going to throw some innings. We have said this for the last three years but she is definitely a different look. She keeps the ball down and has the best change up on the team.”
“We brought in a freshman named Casey Faile. Her pitches can be deceiving. She is one of those ball players that rise to the occasion in game situations. Every time she has been in a game situation she pitches better than she does in the bullpen. She is a young lady that can also give us some pop in the lineup with her bat. She is a dual threat for us.”
On the lack of infield depth with this year’s team…
“I have taken two teams to the College World Series that only had 13 players. I am hoping that the 16 players we have now are a good example of that type of team. We have some versatile kids. Ashley Applegate could come into the infield, along with Dee Dee Henderson and Tiffany Shaw. We have covered all those bases. If we have three players with broken fingers like we did last year, then we could be in trouble.”
On how tough their road schedule is this season…
“It is a grind in any sport. Before I got to LSU, I was kind of a fan from afar. We used to play 30 SEC games but now we only play 28. We are still the only conference that plays that many conference games. You have to get beat and understand that you are going to get beat. No one goes through this conference undefeated. Every SEC coach understands that. You look at the national rankings and you understand how tough this conference is. You try to survive and play it pitch by pitch.”
On what is the one characteristic that defines this team…
“It is kind of early to tell but I would have to say team chemistry. I know that sounds clich? but we have a ritual we start before every season where we take a balance scale to every practice. What happens is, our first opponent, who is St. John’s, will get a penny and the Tigers will get one penny if it is a good practice, two pennies if it is a great practice, three pennies if it is a phenomenal practice and zero pennies if we wasted our time. The scale has been like this (weighted down on LSU’s side). A lot of time they get extra pennies because of the atmosphere and the way they approach practice with their enthusiasm or appreciation for each other. They get that because of the grind of a season. When you are going for four straight weekends and have been together for awhile, those are the intangibles that are going to win us some games. We have the talent and it is about execution but it is also about attitude. This team has the correct attitude and their heads on straight.”
ASSOCIATE HEAD Coach James DeFeo
Opening statement …
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming out. I don’t see Skip (Bertman) here, and I miss his jokes. I asked coach G if she was going to give one of her one-liners, but I didn’t get anything from that. So I’ll skip my jokes and get right to the point as well. The real reason we are here is softball.”
On the philosophy of the team …
“One of the greatest challenges we’ve had as a staff this year is to harness the talent we do have. I think one of the things we talk about as a staff is to teach our players to stay in the moment and keep that heightened sense of awareness. We want them to stay focused, play one pitch at a time and expect great things from themselves. If they expect great things from themselves, and if they expect great things from their teammates, I think great things will come to pass.”
On the schedule …
“As the season progresses, we are talking about loving the big games, loving the pressure that comes along with the big games, loving the challenges that we face every single weekend. Of course, the biggest game this weekend is against St. John’s, because you can’t get to the second game until you play the first. Looking ahead, we have a great schedule. We play Arizona in Palm Springs. We’ll have a great match up against Georgia to open the conference. If we focus on the task at hand, I think everything will take care of itself. Once we can do that as a team, I think we will be primed for championship play.”
On the “angels” in the outfield …
“We have two very special angels in our outfield looking down on us this year for our last year in the original Tiger Park. Both myself and coach G had a hard time this past year coping with the passing of our mothers. To celebrate coach G’s mom, Rose Mary, and to really signify what she really meant to us, not just the program but to the entire softball community, we are wearing a special rose decal on the back of our batting helmets. Everyone should take a look at that when we start to play. It’ll be a special addition to our batting lineup.”
On the outfield …
“We have speed, we have power and we have plenty of depth. We have lots of outfielders, unlike in the infield. We have talent representing every class. Of course, I’ll begin with our senior captains Quinlan Duhon and Academic All-American Dee Dee Henderson. They’ll be seeing time in left field and right field, respectively. I think both of them bring something special to the plate. Dee Dee brings speed and Q has some pop in her bat. I think they are going to hold a special role in our lineup.
“Super sophomores Rachel Mitchell and Jazz Jackson will see time in right field and center field, respectively. If you’ll recall, Mitchell was the 2007 Palo Alto Regional MVP and Jazz was an All-SEC selection for us last year.”
“Our two newcomers in the outfield are Ashley Applegate from California and Tiffany Shaw from Louisiana. They’ll add much needed depth to our outfield. As of late, Applegate has shown her true colors by showing how awesome she is out there in the grass. She’s going to get some significant playing time during this tournament. Applegate is a triple-threat player at the plate. She can bunt, she can hit and slap from the left side, and she has an absolute cannon for an arm. Shaw is one of the fastest Tigers on the field. She’ll pose a huge threat for anyone when she’s on the bases.”
On the catchers …
“This is an interesting year for LSU. Not only is it interesting, but it is historic. We have not just one, but two All-American catchers on our roster. We have All-American senior Killian Roessner returning. Her commanding presence behind the plate will be felt. Her handling of the pitching staff will be key to our successes this year. Backing her up is super-utility player Erika Sluss. I think she has played every position on the field, except pitcher. High school All-American Starla Guffey will be making her hitting debut this weekend. She’s coming off shoulder surgery, so she won’t see much time behind the plate this year, but she’ll make a huge impact in our lineup with her big stick.”
On the overall offense …
“Like Coach G said, I think this group is going to be the most versatile and balanced lineup we’ve had in a long time. We’ll have several different options depending on who we are facing. We can go for a power lineup, loaded with right-handed hitters. We can play the short game with some speed. We have five left-handed hitters to create problems against certain opponents.
“At the top of our lineup, we’ll look for Dee Dee Henderson and Jazz Jackson to get on base and steal some bags. After that, we’ll have the power-hitting Rachel Mitchell, Killian Roessner, Quinlan Duhon, Tayl’r Hollis, Erika Sluss and the powerful freshman Jessica Mouse. Providing a spark in the lower part of our lineup will be Shannon Stein and Ashley Applegate.
“Off the bench, we’ll have a couple hitters, but not so many pinch runners. We’ll have the power hitting Guffey and freshman Casey Faile. Pinch-running will be done by Tiffany Shaw.
“We always commit to scoring first every game. We always commit to scoring five runs every game. If we accomplish those two goals, the W’s will come. I can definitely say that this team has a lot of different weapons, and it’ll be a fun team to watch.”
ASSISTANT COACH MEGAN SMITH
Opening statement…
“As James (DeFeo) alluded to, we have only a few infielders. Luckily, we have very strong infielders. Our mantra is quality not quantity, so we have four infielders who are regular infielders, and we will call upon Quinlan Duhon, who is an outfielder, to come in and help us out. Coach Girouard talked about the team chemistry that is unbelievable this year, and it truly starts in the infield. The group of girls that I work with are so much fun to coach. They have fun together and have really gelled as a unit.
On the first base position…
We are going to start with first base, and James talked about Erika Sluss, who has been really versatile for us in the past. She’s played every position. She’s found some stability at first base. She is very used to that position. She has played it before, and she’s had all of fall and all of January to really work on that position, and she’s doing a wonderful job at first. She’s very solid, and she also gives us depth everywhere else. She can play anywhere, even behind the plate.
“Quinlan Duhon we brought in from the outfield just to give us a little more depth. We worked with her all of the fall at first base, and she really is such a competitor and a perfectionist, and she worked extremely hard to learn the position. I feel confident with her there if we need to have her there.”
On the second base position…
“Shannon Stein will be at second base for us. She’s the only returning starter going back to her same position. Last year, she really was a leader for us on and off the field, and she has continued that role last fall and this January. She is a very solid player, she makes every routine play, she is very exciting to watch and she has fun out there. You can see that when you watch her play.”
On the shortstop position…
“Moving from third base to shortstop will be Tayl’r Hollis. This is a position that is not new to her; she has played this position before, but it’s a big difference between third and short. She worked all of the fall and January to become acclimated with that position, and she’s really dominant there. She has worked extremely hard making the transition. She is ultra-aggressive. She was at third base last year, I’m sure you guys saw that, and she’s the same at shortstop. She and Shannon have really taken the leadership role in the infield, and they work really well together in the middle. I look for really good things from Tayl’r at short this year.”
On the third base position…
“Our new addition, Jessica Mouse, will be playing third base. She is truly a phenomenal athlete. She’s very fun to watch. She is very ?in your face.’ She makes unbelievable plays at practice, and she makes them look really routine. It’s become just routine for us to watch her make those plays. She is very aggressive. She attacks the game in all aspects, offensively and defensively. I think truly she is going to have a stellar career as a Tiger.”
“Although we don’t have many infielders, we have really good infielders who work well together and work extremely hard. They are a fun group to coach, and I’m sure they will be a fun group to watch.”
PITCHER DANI HOFER
On adding to her game over the offseason…
“I’ve just been crisping some things up. The screwball has definitely been looking good and so has the change up, so that should definitely help.”
On catcher Killian Roessner helping her development…
“Having the confidence back there behind the plate, trusting her with every call she makes and just knowing that she has my back out there on the mound is such a relief as a pitcher. It’s what you look for in a catcher, and she’s been everything that you could ask for.”
On helping the younger pitchers…
“I just try and be there for them whenever Coach (Girouard) is getting on them or when they are kind of confused about things. I’m just there for them to talk to, tell them what’s going to happen and how the year is going to go.”
On any personal goals…
“Just try to get to the World Series. I don’t really set personal goals. I just do what I can for the team.”
SECOND BASEMAN SHANNON STEIN
On her senior season…
“This is the year for us. This is our senior year. We haven’t been there (World Series) yet. We’ve almost reached it, and I feel like we all just need to stay together. We have an ultimate goal in mind, and I think we’ll get there.”
On this year’s chemistry…
“This year’s team chemistry and enthusiasm is really going to help us make it all the way if we stay together. We are going to have ups and downs throughout the season, and we need to just pick each other up and be there for each other. I don’t think we had this much chemistry on last year’s team, so I think that will be a big difference on this year’s squad.”
On being the veteran in the infield…
“I have no concerns. Everyone is really comfortable working with each other. (Jessica) Mouse, as a freshman, has come right in, and we haven’t missed a beat this year. I think our defense is better than it was last year.”
On finally getting to start the season…
“I’ve been anxious since the first days of two-a-days. I think we are going to have a winning team this year, and with that in mind, we are just ready to start playing. We are ready to start playing in the SEC. Hosting Georgia will be a big weekend for us. I know we are going to have a lot of fans this year, so we are excited about that.”
SHORTSTOP TAYL’R HOLLIS
On her move from third base to shortstop…
“It’s a big move yet not a big move. I’m coming from a corner to a middle infield position. It’s just an adjustment that I had to make throughout the fall, but I’m very prepared, and I feel very comfortable out there.”
On the hardest part of the transition…
“I would have to say just reading the ball. Coming from third (base), it’s a fast reaction. At shortstop, you have more time to think about the ground ball. You have to get the ball more than you would at third base, so I would say just reading the ball has been the biggest adjustment for me.”
CATCHER KILLIAN ROESSNER
On her expectations this year…
“Before the season starts we always set out or write down our team goals, and obviously, one of our main goals is to stay focused, which is the ultimate team goal. For future goals, we have, of course, host Regionals, host Super Regionals, go to the World Series, win the SEC and win the SEC tournament. That’s how we kind of look at our season.”
On Dani Hofer‘s projected impact…
“Dani (Hofer) is a huge part of our success. Dani’s going to take us as far as we go. We have all of our faith in her as much as we did the other ones (aces).She’s been showing us that she’s been our No. 1 since she first got her. As a freshman, she came in with no fear and pitched her heart out. She’s done that for the past two years, and we believe that she’s only going to get better.”
On Hofer’s development…
“Dani and I have worked a lot together since day one. I’ve been like a pitching coach with Dani. We work with each other a lot. Dani has been conditioning a lot more, which I know might have been something that people were saying about her, but she’s got more stamina than she’s ever had before. Coach Melissa Moore has been working with her a lot, and she is constantly working repetition after repetition.
On comparing Hofer and former All-American pitcher Emily Turner…
“Emily (Turner) is an amazing person to catch and to be around. She’s just got an incredible personality. Both of them were our number ones. We could go to them at any time. We could mix them. It was an incredible mix. Turner is a very animated pitcher, so she definitely needs a lot more talking to, whereas Dani just needs, ?Hey, you need to do this.’ Those two working together looked like they were best friends. You would think they had been best friends since they were younger with the way they worked together.”