Georgia Southern University softball coach Annie Smith still calls from a Starkville cell phone number.
The connections to her former residence don’t stop there.
Smith will lead Georgia Southern (42-18) into postseason play Friday when it faces the University of North Carolina (41-13) in a first-round game at the University of Georgia-hosted Athens Regional. On the other coast, Smith’s former employer, Mississippi State University (33-22), will face Brigham Young University (43-14) today in a first-round game of the University of Oregon-hosted Eugene Regional.
Smith spent the past nine seasons as an assistant to Jay Miller at MSU. While in Starkville, Miller and Smith led the Bulldogs to six regional appearances. In 2012, Smith and new MSU coach Vann Stuedeman are the only first-year head coaches in the 64-team tournament field.
“It is very neat for both of us to be in the postseason,” Smith said. “I am proud of my team. I know the players at Mississippi State. I am proud of their accomplishments, too.”
Both coaches inherited rebuilding jobs. MSU was coming off back-to-back losing seasons and last made a regional in 2009. Georgia Southern last made a regional in 2006, but saw three near-misses with consecutive losses in the conference tournament championship from 2007-09.
Smith said the idea was to keep things simple for the Eagles.
“The players here were really overcomplicating things,” Smith said. “They were thinking too much and trying to do too much. From the very first practice, our motto was to keep it simple. The players were talking about winning a championship. I told them I wanted to win one game first.
“Instead of the big picture, we focused on the small picture. If you focus in the moment and you do things right, you can win one game. If you learn how to win one game, then you try the next day to win a second game. It sounds simple, because it is. Softball is about repetition. We wanted to repeat successes.”
The Eagles repeated success on numerous occasions. Georgia Southern won a school-record 42 games this season, including a school-record 22 Southern Conference games. The Eagles rolled through the SoCon regular season with a 22-2 mark and then went 4-1 mark to win the tournament title and a third regional tournament berth. The regular-season championship was the program’s first since 1996. The tournament championship was the first since 2006.
“We defeated Georgia Tech twice in the fall and that gave the team a tremendous amount of confidence,” Smith said. “During the first week of workouts, I watched the team perform. What really stood out at me was the number of pure athletes we had. I thought then we have the pieces, we just have to find a way to put it all together.
“After we had the success against Georgia Tech, it took the girls to another level. They firmly bought into what we had been teaching. It was a great group. They were eager to go to work every day. Those are the kinds of players you can coach.”
Stuedeman’s mantra has been focused.
“We wanted our players to believe they were playing against the game and not against an opponent,” Stuedeman said. “We wanted to live in the moment and focus on winning individual at-bats. After all was said and done, you add up the at-bats. If you win, you feel good. If you lose, you tip your cap to the opponent and get ready to come back the next day.”
Stuedeman took her first job as a head coach after an 11-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama. Her experiences in the Southeastern Conference helped make the transition a smooth one.
“I felt like I had the proper preparation for this job,” Stuedeman said. “However, you never really know until you are finally doing it. Even as head coaches, it is important to continue to learn and to continue to grow with the game and with your players.”
Smith worked 13 seasons as an assistant coach, all under Miller. Prior to MSU, they worked together for four seasons at the University of Missouri. Smith said it hasn’t been a major transition going from an assistant coach to a head coach.
“I think my experience really helped me prepare for this situation,” Smith said. “As an assistant coach, you make decisions. As a head coach, you make decisions. The biggest difference is now you make more of them. When you are an assistant and you try something and it doesn’t work, the head coach has to fix the problem.
“As a head coach, if you try something and it doesn’t work, you move on and don’t try it again. We have tried some things this year that we won’t do again. It is unique, though, because now I don’t have to answer to anyone else for my decisions other than myself.”
Pitching and defense have keyed Georgia’s Southern’s resurgence. Pitcher Allie Miles was Southern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2011 and preseason conference pitcher of the year this season. Teammate Sarah Purvis won 23 games and took those honors in the postseason.
The Athens Regional field also includes the University of Georgia and Coastal Carolina University. In the regular season, Georgia Southern lost 1-0 at Georgia and won 5-2 at Coastal Carolina.
“The North Carolina ace pitcher is from Georgia, so several of my kids played against in her travel ball,” Smith said. “We have already played in the stadium where the regional is at. Even though we have accomplished so much, we still fully expect to go in there and be competitive.”
While the focus is squarely on Georgia Southern and the quest for a first Super Regional berth, Smith still will cheer for MSU as it also tries for a first Super Regional berth.
“A tremendous amount of credit goes to Vann, and I am very happy for her” Smith said. “I’ve known her a long time. Her experience around the league has helped her tremendously. I am close to the kids and helped recruit a great deal of them. It means a lot to me that they are getting to have this experience. I think they will do well out there.
“The main thing is she and I inherited hungry teams with some talented players. Sometimes a hungry team is a dangerous team. The players have to want it and have to have the ability to get it. Our job as coaches is to put them in a position to do just that.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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