Swadley's Outlook on Start of MIAA Play

Sunday is our opener for the MIAA and I am very anxious to see how things go. We are just now hitting the peak of our potential, we played some very competitive teams early on in our season and that has definitely prepared us for our conference games. We are all ready to play and won’t settle for anything less than a W. We are only as good as we allow ourselves to be and I know that we are all ready to play. If our pitching staff is throwing well, our hitters will supply the runs needed to win.

Volkmann's Reflection on Start of Season

Well its been a tough start on the season but there are things we know we need to fix and things we know we need to keep up on. I didn't expect my senior year to start out like this but our team doesnt give up and I believe we will bounce back as long as we stick as a team. Everyone has to stay positive and not get down because our team will only be strong as that person who is down. 

Swadley's Reflection on First Weekend of Games

Although I have playing softball since I was 5 years old, I would be lying if I said there weren’t some nerves before my first game. Our weekend in Abilene, Texas obviously did not go as well as we had hoped. I believe that for our first outing as a team we played well though. We put the ball in play a lot and competed with every team that we played. We had a short week of practice and are now ready to compete in Wichita Falls, Texas. I am excited to play and see how well our team does. We have already overcome quite a bit of adversity this year which means we will keep fighting at all cost until the last pitch is thrown. 

Breanna's Start of the Spring Season

Well its the beginning of the end for me and the rest of the seniors. I have mixed feelings going into this last semester. I am very excited to start my last semester of college and get the softball season going but I'm sad to know its the end of having my softball family around me every day! I am happy to know i ran my last 300 yard shuttle and passed it, it was an accomplishment to know I can make it! This season i am pretty excited to see how we will do. We had our first week of practice and i will say its been the best first week this program has had since Ive been here as a freshmen. We are able to move forward faster and not go over the things that a college softball player should already know. We are having harder conditioning to be in better shape so when we go into an international tie breaker our team isn't tired and can last those 7-14 innings. We will be able to run bases more aggressively and put pressure on the other teams defense. The team has been getting stronger in the weight room so we can hit the ball harder and farther, our goal is to set a new record in doubles this year! I personally think this year will be by far our best year out of my 4 years I've been here! I am happy to say i could help a program get back on the tracks of going towards championships. As for school, i am excited to be on my last units but i know it will be challenging because they are my last units and I just want them to be done. Overall i am really looking forward to this semester because like i said.. Its the beginning of the end!!

Brooke's First Spring Blog

As a whole our softball team has already overcome plenty of mountains together in the path of our journey to success. Finding out that our ace pitcher would not be eligible this spring was devastating. Thankfully we have a transfer coming in this spring who we all have high expectations for along with a strong pitching core. With a pitching staff like ours, our team motto is we don’t rebuild we reload. Christmas break was a long time to not be with the team. We all have an extreme will to win and I know everyone put in their work over break to get better. We begin practice January 16^th. I am very anxious to see how we compete this spring. We had a great fall season and only have positive things to say about what is to come. As a freshman, there are some nerves for me but more than anything I am ready to go and get things done. The real question is who will be the LAST ONE STANDING? 

Breanna Volkmann's Final Fall Game

The final fall game was a split feeling. I wasn’t able to play because of an injury but seeing the girls play makes me excited for season but also watching made me realize we are not close to being where we need to be if we want to win a championship. I am very excited for my last fall season because I no longer will have to do the heavy lifting but with this group of girls I am going to be very sad to know I will no longer be seeing these girls and will have to start a new chapter to my life. I’m looking forward to going home and seeing my family for break. I like knowing that I get to see ALL my family during Christmas that I don’t see all the time. I am excited for my dad to be retired during my break and knowing he will be at almost all my softball games for my last year. Lastly I am excited to go to California to see my boyfriend and his family since I don’t get to see them all the time and they are like my second family. I know the break is my last break of school and that I will be starting my last semester of school and my last season of softball.

Brooke's View On Fall Ball

Now that our fall softball season has concluded, I am even more excited to see what our team can accomplish this spring in our regular season. As a freshman, I was unsure of what to expect during our 14 inning scrimmages. There were many different emotions that I experienced before I played my first scrimmage, simply because we had great practices and thought we were good but I knew the true test would be how we faced the adversity of playing another team. The team chemistry is great, and everyone has winning on their minds. If we continue to stay driven, I believe we are the only thing that can keep us from succeeding this season. 

Introduction of Freshman Brooke Swadley

My name is Brooke Swadley, I am a freshman softball player here at Missouri Southern State University. I grew up in Purdy, Missouri. Although I have been playing softball since I was five years old, in both high school and ASA competitive softball, I must say college is very different than both. I had to adjust to new teammates, new coaches, new peers in the classroom, and time management. The transition from high school to college has been a very smooth process for me. Everyone on our team is very easy to get along with.

Coming into college, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The practices are long and hard, but organized and challenging. I can feel myself getting better every single day. The best difference between college and high school is that every day at practice everyone wants to be there, we all have the love for the game and to me that is the most important key to having a winning team.

The overall classroom setting is very different than what I was used to in high school. The classroom size is not much larger, but the attitude and main goals of the teachers are very different. I have learned that professors want you there and they care about how you do in their class, but if you don’t show up to their class that is your own fault. It doesn’t matter to them one way or the other.

Lastly, I had to learn better time management skills. Being a student athlete can be very challenging at times. Softball consumes most of our time and outside of that we have homework, so I have to be wise when I am choosing when to hang out with friends. I have already gotten better at time management since I’ve gotten here.

In conclusion, I have very much so enjoyed the process of becoming a freshman in college after being a senior in high school. I really enjoy it here, and I have high hopes for our softball team this year!