The No. 24-ranked St. Thomas softball team, upon returning from their trip to Arizona with a 3-3 record, head to Clermont, Florida on Friday for an eight-game stand.

Last season the team had a successful trip, winning all but one of the eight games played. They finished the season with a 37-11 overall record, including a .453 slugging percentage and 14 home runs.

“Going down south, we are going to be playing the top teams in the country,” coach John Tschida said. “So, we can learn what we do well and don’t do well.”

2017 All-MIAC utility player Melissa Barry is on this season’s Division III watchlist, amongst 50 players nationwide. Only six of these players on the list are from the MIAC. Barry earned this recognition from slugging .407, clocking 54 hits and driving in 35 runs this past season.

“It’s awesome to be recognized and it just shows that my team really helps push me to be the best I can be,” Barry said.

Softball’s last season came to an end at the NCAA Super Regionals, losing its final two games to St. Catherine University. Going into this upcoming season, St. Kate’s is still on the team’s radar, alongside nationally-ranked College of Saint Benedict.

“St. Kate’s brought us some difficulty last year. They have a really good pitcher and a good returning class … They are returning everyone,” Barry said, “but also St. Ben’s will be competitive.”

St. Ben’s moved from the No. 23 spot on the NFCA Coaches rankings to the No. 20 spot, tied with Kean University.

Another key player alongside Barry is catcher and infielder Chase Shortly, who was also All-MIAC last season. This past season Shortly had a slugging percentage of .577. She also contributed 20 doubles and four home runs that season.

“I say that our goals as a team for the rest of the season is to just keep getting better, with every practice and every game,” Shortly said.

Recovering from a shoulder injury last season, Shortly said she needs to get back into the game. With the team’s goal being to reach the world tournament in Oklahoma City, Shortly noted that there improvement is needed in order for that to happen.

“I think we have a lot to improve on in a lot of areas,” Shortly said, “which is a good thing. We are not just peaking right away.”

Tschida made note of the necessity for players to get back into playing.

“As coaches, we know that the players need to see where they stand,” Tschida said. “For some young players, they just need to get their feet wet… Learning what it’s like to play at the college level.”

With nine underclassmen on the team, keeping a culture that embodies unity is important. Juniors Barry and Shortly both take on the responsibility of exemplifying the power a team has to accomplish goals, versus a single person.

“You need to maximize your abilities for the benefit of others,” Tschida said. “That really encompasses focus, work ethic and discipline.”

The team hopes to go into this season working their hardest at every practice and game in order to make it to Oklahoma City this season.

“We always say good better best, never let it rest, good gets better, better gets best,” Tschida said.

MacKenzie Bailey can be reached at Bail7757@stthomas.edu.