Tabitha Beard knows how important family is to the New Hope High School softball program.
Not only did Beard watch her older sister, Bridget, play for the Lady Trojans, but she also played for coach Cary Shepherd and then watched as her younger sister, Rachel, experienced life as a Lady Trojan.
Now as coach at New Hope, Beard has tried to maintain that family mind-set in the school’s slow- and fast-pitch programs. As with many teams, the responsibility to carry on those principles often is left to the upperclassmen. That’s why it is a little more special this season for Beard to see Kasey and Erin Stanfield doing their part to keep the tradition alive.
Kasey, Erin, and the rest of New Hope will try to take the next step when they take on Saltillo at 5:30 p.m. Friday in game one of the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State playoff series.
“It is really special that I get to share this with her,” Kasey said. “Even when we get older, we can look back and share memories about this. This is much more than a softball thing. We love the game of softball, but it so much more for us. We have this to connect us.”
The Stanfields are part of the “Fantastic Four” with classmates Lauren Holifield and Ashley Reed. Beard said those players epitomize the dedication and love for the game that Shepherd, the program’s longtime coach, used to build a foundation. Subsequent classes have compiled a list filled with district, region, and North State titles, not to mention 14 state championships, including the past five in a row in slow pitch.
Kasey, a catcher, and Erin, a first baseman, intend to be part of the first New Hope team to win a fast-pitch state crown. Both players feel they have improved from last season and from the 2011 slow-pitch campaign. In that season, Kasey was a fixture at third base, while Beard said Erin’s only job was to catch the ball at first base.
“Erin has sat patiently and waited and worked and kept playing and kept playing knowing her time wasn’t going to come until her junior year,” Beard said. “She pretty much knew that from the beginning.
“Kasey had the opportunity to play a lot earlier than Erin. That could (have led to) Erin (thinking), ‘I am going to give up,’ but she didn’t do that. She has struggled at the plate (this season), and she knows that, but she has had a great attitude about it. She keeps working.”
Beard thought Erin might have a hard time dealing with someone taking her spot in key hitting situations. Instead, Beard said Erin has been a great teammate and has been the biggest supporter of anyone who pinch hits for her.
“They’re amazing kids,” Beard said. “We have gotten really close, and I am glad they are here. I am glad she has stepped up to that role at first base. She is pretty solid, and she has taken some good ridings from me about her role.”
Erin was on the junior varsity fast-pitch team as a sophomore. She said she really didn’t push herself on that team. Things have changed this season because Erin knows she has a standard she needs to meet. If she doesn’t, she knows she will have to answer to Kasey.
“She really does push herself a little bit more,” Kasey said of Erin. “She is kind of nonchalant about stuff. Coach Beard yells at her and she really doesn’t have any emotion. When we need her she really pushes through.”
Beard said Kasey has been one of her sister’s biggest fans. She said Kasey does her best in the dugout to keep Erin’s spirits up and that her presence helps relax Erin because she provides a natural support system on the field.
“Kasey is going to be Kasey,” Beard said. “She is going to be that upbeat leader. She has played through a lot.”
Kasey had hip replacement surgery when she was 10. It just so happens she suffered an injury playing softball that ultimately forced the surgery to be done. Years later, Kasey is toiling at catcher for pitchers Holifield and D.J. Sanders and doing her best to be a solid receiver. Kasey said she is growing more comfortable behind the plate. She knows sometimes she gets too hard on herself, but she said that drive to be the best fuels her to keep striving for perfection. It also helps to motivate Erin.
“I know how good she can be, and I want her to push herself,” Kasey Stanfield said. “We’re kind of hard on each other, but, other than that, we have a pretty good relationship.”
Beard said Kasey’s competitiveness can get the best of her because she is so hard on herself. She said confidence is Kasey’s biggest hurdle to overcome, and that she has to push her and convince her she is good enough to play at a high level.
“She is the player who eats, sleeps, lives, breathes, everything she does is softball,” Beard said. “She has a goal. She wants to play at the next level, and this is what she wants to do.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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