McNeese State University - Log Yearbook (Lake Charles, LA)

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Suffering the drawbacks of having a young and inexperienced team, the Cowgirls overcame and got into The Swing of Things The story of the McNeese Cowgirls’ 1985 softball season could not be measured so much in wins and losses, but in a growing youth movement that holds a bright future. A total of eight freshmen and six sophomores dotted the lineup in 1985 for coach Cheryl Manuel’s squad. The only experienced players on this year’s unit were two se- niors, second baseman Beth Rist and pitcher Scooter Thi- bodeaux. “In the beginning | knew we would be a young team,”’ said Realizing the pitch is too high, fresh- man Charamie Boynes of Chalmette lets it go by. (Photo by T. Maricle) Manuel. ‘Out of our 18 players 14 of those were freshmen or sophomores . ‘The thing | Knew we would have to face was inexperi- ence,’’ Manuel added. ‘That showed up in rushed throws and mental errors in tight situa- tions.” Sophomore Joni Talbot car- ried the majority of the early- season pitching load for the Cowgirls because freshman pitcher Missy Sepulvado was recovering from an off-season injury. Continued Softball 163

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Lisa Walther, a freshman accounting major, scores a base hit against the Northwestern Demons. (Photo by T. Maricle) Conferring near the mound, Cow- girls Joni Talbot. (No. 10), Deanna Cooper (No. 35), Joy Gambino (No. 40), Chermaie Boynes (No. 25), Sheri Doyle (No. 21) and Sammy Bordelon (No. 13) review possible defense tac- tics. (Photo by T. Maricle) 162 Sports

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The Swing of Things The Cowgirls did get a boost, however, with the re- turn of pitcher Scooter Thibo- deaux, who ended the year with a 10-7 record and gave McNeese added pitching depth until Sepulvado was able to return. Even with the added pitch- ing, the Cowgirls still found the 1985 Softball Schedule 1-304 Ball St 6-1 W Nicholls St SE LA 5-0 W LA Tech 0-3 OL NW LA 1-3 Nicholls St 0-5 Sulphur Tournament SE LA 3-0 Grambling 6-4 Lamar SW LA 8-0 Sam Houston 1-7 Arkansas St 5-2 Grambling 3-1 LA Tech 0-3 N. Texas St 12-3 Tex Arlington Sam Houston Tournament Nicholls St 1-4 Southland Conference NW LA 164 Sports Ww Ww W E Ww E L W | going tough, finishing the year with a 19-27 record and a pair of losses in the Southland Con- ference Tournament. “The thing that hurt was lack of leadership,” said Man- uel. ‘The team was too young. There was nobody to really take over.’ By midseason Manuel found Front row, left to right: Lisa Walther, Beth Rist, Deanna Haydel, Lisa Stelly, Cheramie Boynes, Joy Gambino, ’ her pitchers burned out from pitching too often, and that hurt the team mentally. Talbot finished the year with appearances in 26 games and an overall record of 8-18. In the hitting department ju- nior Lisa Stelly of Shreveport carried the load, batting .270 and cracking three home runs to lead the team in both aa gories. The lack of experience obvi 7 ously hurt the Cowgirls, but!) ” with another year's experi- | ence under their belts, the team can look for a bright sea- son in 1986. Cooper, Joni Talbot, Shelli Anderson, Sammy Borde- Missie Sepulvado, Dawn Smith, Christine Sergi, Kristal : lon, Sheri Doyle, Scooter Thibodeaux. Back row: Tammy Guidry, Linda Hale, Nancy Holmes, Margaret Smith. (Photo by B. Mericle) be