AUSTIN — The Oregon trail that followed head coach Mike White down to Texas is more than meshing in with the Longhorn softball team. They’ve embraced an enthusiasm that bounds out of the dugout and has Texas off to a 7-1 start to the 2019 season.
From Eugene, Ore. on down to Austin, the new Texas coach brought an air of energy to the team, not to mention four eventual transfers from the Oregon Ducks to come be part of something special on the Forty Acres.
Shannon Rhodes, Mary Iakopo, Lauren Burke and Miranda Elish have made immediate impacts as new Longhorns after their transfer, with a combined .403 average, 15 runs scored, four homers and 20 RBIs.
Even the veteran Longhorns have felt the vibrations that are making this team a joy to watch as they enjoy themselves.
“We’ve had a big rejuvenation,” said veteran junior third baseman Malory Schattle. “Having this new coaching staff, they’ve brought forward a ‘play loose and have fun’ kind of mentality.”
That feeling you get when you remember you’re still Longhorns softball and tomorrow there’s another BIG GAME to play! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/Ke8rbklaUK
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) February 16, 2019
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White shows no worry even when talking about the loss to No. 8 LSU as the team’s lone blemish of the season so far. As plenty of teams try to have fun while working hard, how does White have the capability to let his team let loose yet stay composed enough to contend with the top teams in the country?
“Coach White’s really into player development — he likes when everyone’s themselves,” Rhodes said. “He thinks that everyone works and plays their best when they’re loose and having fun and being their true authentic selves.”
Rhodes admitted she can’t fully grasp how he works his magic.
“I don’t know. He’s a veteran of the game, he’s one of the greatest.
Old wise man I guess,” she laughed.
That lone loss of the season didn’t linger, because White wouldn’t let it. After starting the season 6-0, Texas suffered its lone defeat last Friday at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational before bouncing back to beat No. 18 Kentucky on Saturday with their usual exuberance abundantly clear.
This team loves to play.
“This team has a lot of fun when we play I truly do believe that every single person is just loving the game, enjoying the game,” Burke said. “And that makes softball a lot better. We enjoy coming to practice and we enjoy competing.”
Right before Christmas the team had a holiday party at White’s house where he noticed something different about this group.
“I think they really genuinely care about each other and I noticed that pre-Christmas. We had a party at my house, and nobody wanted to leave,” White said. “Typically to get kids at those things you’re pulling teeth to get them there and then they wanna leave. … They just like each other’s company and they wanted to stay around, so that was the first indication that this team — they don’t just talk the talk, they walk they walk as well.”
That bit of history between the team has them confidently looking at making some history this season as well. Embracing the chase of a championship and not feeling the burden of having to win one is a fine line this team learned together.
“I want to be a part of something historic, and I think that the girls here, that were previously here, have something special going on,” Rhodes said, “and we all would help each other climb the ladder.”
The first step up that ladder came with the 7-1 loss to LSU, actually.
“Our game against LSU, they’re a really good team, that was a really tough loss,” Burke said. “We’re bound to lose at some point so I think it was just all about how we came back from that and coach White talked a lot about that, that we need to bring our best game the next game and it’s whoever plays the best on that day that wins.”
Confidence came out even stronger following that, and Texas topped No. 18 Kentucky 4-3 in walkoff fashion. Junior first baseman Kaitlyn Washington smacked an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give the Longhorns the thrilling win.
That’s helping your own cause at the plate @elish_miranda! #Clutch #HookEm pic.twitter.com/XlAg2TfTzu
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) February 16, 2019
“I think that we can beat any team on any day, we just didn’t come out with our best stuff that day (against LSU),” Burke continued. “When we came out against Kentucky we fought to the end and really showed our stuff.”
Texas gets an entire weekend to bond again while hosting the Texas Invitational Friday through Sunday, with plenty of chances to feel the fun flooding into the stands at McCombs Field.
The Longhorns start action Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Sam Houston State, then play Tulsa at 7 p.m. later that day.
On Saturday Texas takes on Ole Miss at 1 p.m. and Tulsa again at 3:30. The Horns finish the weekend tournament with a 10 a.m. matchup against Ole Miss once more on Sunday morning.
The bats have been booming and the arms on the mound are working well in the early going. Texas is ranked second in the Big 12 and 26th overall in batting average at .345, with the pitching staff’s 1.34 ERA ranking in as 19th in the NCAA and first in the Big 12 Conference.
As the quartet from Oregon moves on and are now as much Longhorns as anyone on campus, Schattle says it was their initial spark that sparked this team to become blended as a complete squad.
“They brought a lot of competition back to this team,” she said. “We welcome the competition and we welcome these girls, they’re gonna get us where we want which is the world series. So being able to grow closer with them on and off the field is what is gonna get us there.”
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