Aggies open tournament against Howard University

MEAC Softball Bracket
GREENSBORO, May 9, 2007 – A cloud of mourning hovers over the 2007 MEAC Softball Tournament in Severn, Md., this weekend as North Carolina A&T goes after its first fast-pitch softball championship.

Tiny Laster, who led Hampton to a 14-0 conference season, died last week after an ongoing battle with kidney disease. Laster’s passing puts Hampton sports information director Jamar Ross in charge of the top seeded Pirates. The Aggies No. 5 seeding could lead them to a potential second-round matchup with the heavy-hearted Pirates.

Before getting there, a good Howard team will be staring at the Aggies (25-28, 9-5 in the MEAC) in their MEAC Tournament opener. The Aggies and the Bison begin play at 12:30 p.m., Friday from Randazzo Softball Park.

If the Aggies win, they will play the winner of the Hampton/Morgan State game Friday night at 7. A loss puts the Aggies in the loser’s bracket against the loser of the Delaware State/Florida A&M game at 3:30 p.m., Friday. Howard is 31-18 overall and 10-4 in the MEAC. The Bison defeated the Aggies earlier this season in the MEAC Roundup, 9-5.

But Aggies ace Sasha Philpot did not start the game. Philpot entered the game in the third inning and despite giving up four runs, only one of those runs was earned. The Aggies also had a chance to tie the game in the seventh. Freshman standout Yahamma White came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.

White sent a towering fly ball to deep left field, but Howard left fielder Sukai Curtis-Contreras extended her left arm over the fence to snag back White’s potential home run to end the game.

The Aggies recorded 13 hits in the game and certainly possess the offense to win it all in Maryland. Clean-up hitter Tangala Conover and White have been excellent at the plate lately. In her last 10 games, Conver is hitting .375 with an impressive 12 runs scored, two home runs and 10 RBI.

Meanwhile White, who has hit better than .400 all season, had fallen into a 2-for-21 slump in the middle April. She moved from the lead-off spot to No. 2 in the batting order, putting junior Chaola Simmons in the lead-off spot. The move has apparently helped both hitters. Simmons is hitting .352 with 12 runs scored in her last 10 games.

White is hitting .480 with 11 runs scored, two home runs (one of them was inside the park homer) and eight RBI in her last 10. White leads the conference in batting average and is the 20^th in the country at .425. She is third in the nation in runs scored per game.

Of course, the Aggies will rely heavily on the power of freshmen Lillian Bullock and Jessie Larson. Combined, the duo has 94 RBI, and have accounted for 32 percent of the Aggies RBI this season. Larson leads the MEAC in RBI and ranks 31^st nationally, while Bullock’s 14 home runs still leads the MEAC. The only question may be, how will the Aggies two-week layoff affect some of those hot bats? Before the weekend is over and regardless of all the star Aggie freshmen, senior Tabitha Veney (.351, 7 HR, 25 RBI) could be the unsung hero.  

As strong as the Aggies offense is, pitching could determine how long they stay in Maryland. Philpot was very strong against Hampton’s lineup last month, giving up just one run and five hits in six innings of relief. She beat Norfolk State, the tournament’s second seed, two weeks ago and third-seeded Delaware State has yet to see the freshman standout.

Another advantage the Aggies have going for them is that No. 2 pitcher Adia Dial is having a career on the mound with 10 wins, which means she could permit Philpot to have a few innings of rest. The Aggies, who made an impressive run in last season’s MEAC Tournament, did it without Dial being in the lineup or on the mound. This year she will play, which could be the thing that takes them over the top this time.

If the Aggies can overcome their Achilles heel this season -- .935 fielding percentage – the bats and pitching should be enough to lead them to gold during a weekend otherwise left sadly void by the absence of coach Laster.