“What’s the count?”, Head Coach Lori Cook inquires from her perch just outside the dugout. “3-2!”, comes the reply from somewhere in the outfield. “There you go! Swing through it next time!” Coach Cook encourages a player.

In preparation for their upcoming season, the team has been putting in more time on the field. Things are going seemingly well with pitches from freshman pitcher Morgan Luksa clocked at over 60 mph, and a near homer from junior infielder/outfielder Rudi Cantu.

The girls talked about past seasons and being prepared for the upcoming months. When asked about the off-season, Cantu said “it was tough. The coaches put us through a lot to get us ready for the season. We worked on physical and mental toughness to prepare for the season.”

Cantu gave her thoughts on the upcoming season, which officially kicks off Friday Feb. 6 at the Aggie Classic in College Station.

“We have a really tough schedule which will prepare us for SLC play.” Being one of the team leaders and showing the rookies the ropes is a major responsibility, which Cantu confirmed simply with, “we’re guiding them.”

Senior outfielder Leanne Risberg shared many of the same thoughts as Cantu.

“The freshman class are a smart bunch, and they know what they’re doing. They just need some guidance from us.” Risberg is riding a wave of confidence because “we’re playing better than we’ve been in the past few years. I’m excited.”

Besides Cantu and Risberg, Cook says junior shortstop/second baseman Kelly Cato is also a team leader. Despite having a young team, Cook is confident going into the season:

“We brought in a really talented class this season. We’ve got the players to win the conference championship this year. We haven’t won it in a few years.”