For the second year in a row, the Big West softball preseason coaches’ poll selected the Long Beach State softball team to finish at the top of the conference.
And for the second year in a row, head coach Kim Sowder said the poll won’t affect her team for better or worse.
“It’s nice to have the respect for the program and the players that are [here],” Sowder said. “But it kind of finishes right there. It’s all about the finish and we’re just trying to stay focused on what we’re doing every day at practice.”
After winning the Big West conference championships in 2014, the 2015 preseason poll picked the 49ers to repeat as conference champions with a total of four first-place votes. LBSU finished one game behind Cal State Northridge last season after the Matadors finished with a school-record 16 conference and 41 overall wins.
In the 2016 poll, LBSU earned six out of eight first-place votes for a total of 62 points.
A main reason why the 49ers are once again in contention for the title is the return of six letterwinners from last season. One of those players returning is LBSU’s all-time leader in home runs and runs batted in, senior third baseman Darian Tautalafua.
Entering her last year as a 49er, Tautalafua said she isn’t approaching the season any differently and that means she knows the preseason poll won’t dictate how the season goes.
“We all think it’s really cool that we got picked first,” Tautalafua said. “But at the end of the day it doesn’t really mean anything. We still have to go out and play.”
Despite the return of several starters, the 49ers will need to fill a two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Year sized hole at shortstop. With the departure of the school’s all-time leader in runs and career batting average, Shayna Kimbrough, Sowder is looking at freshman Nichole Fry to step in from the very first pitch of the season.
Fry said the coaches are letting her play her own game and not expecting results out of Kimbrough just yet.
“They’ve been letting me do my thing for the most part,” Fry said. “I look up to Shayna a lot. She’s just an awesome player and I hope to be like her.”
It’s only Fry’s first year, but like Tautalafua and Sowder, she does not give the preseason poll too much credence.
“I just respect that they respect us like that,” Fry said.
Cal State Fullerton follows LBSU in the 2016 preseason poll with one first place vote and 52 points. Hawai’i rounds out the top three with the last remaining first-place vote and 46 points.
The 49ers start their season on the road Friday as part of the Sportco Kickoff Classic against South Dakota in Las Vegas at 11:15 p.m.