Bluefield State seeks to bring back winning ways for Lady Blues’ softball

BLUEFIELD — It wasn’t that ago that the Bluefield State softball team may have been the top athletic program on campus.

Tyler Pruett remembers it well.

“It has gotten better. The talent has been increased from that one year when they had struggles, but when I was an assistant here they were winning 30 and 25 games a year,” said Pruett, in his second full season as coach of the Lady Blues. “Hopefully with what I am looking at this year, we can get back to that. Hopefully this year.”

Weather hampered the start of this season for Bluefield State, but the Blues have finally managed to get on the diamond in the past week, sweeping a doubleheader, 14-3 and 11-1, at Alice Lloyd on March 13.

They’re 2-8 in the early going, with a doubleheader slated for today in Salem, Va., against West Virginia Wesleyan.

After winning 30 games in 2006 and 24 in ‘07, the Lady Blues have won a combined 11 games since then. That includes a 5-25 mark last season, and 4-33 in ‘08, a season that saw Pruett take over the reigns late in the campaign.

It hasn’t always been seen in the record, but Pruett does feel that the Lady Blues are moving in the right direction.

“They are slowly,” Pruett said. “The first year when I came back and helped out was at the end of the one season (with four wins). We went 3-14 in my stint there, and then last year was my first full year.”

The Lady Blues posted a 2-18 West Virginia Conference mark last season, good for 13th in the 15-team league, trailing West Virginia Wesleyan which won the WVIAC with a 45-15 record, including a 25-1 conference mark.

Three WVIAC teams currently have at least 10 wins so far this season, but few have played league games because of the weather that has hindered every sport at every school and at every level since the start of the year.

“Last year was a very difficult season, Wesleyan was the favorite and they actually won the conference, Fairmont State was the runners-up, but this year anybody has a chance at it really,” Pruett said. “I’ve talked to several of the coaches and they have all said the exact same thing.

“The ones that were dominant last year could easily be in the middle or maybe at the bottom. We’re looking at possibly being in the middle and that is where we’re going from.”

Bluefield State, which has scored two or fewer runs in seven of their eight losses, has several returnees that Pruett hopes will help turn around the fortunes of the Blues.

Among those is sophomore pitcher Kari Chaffin, a product of the Tazewell Bulldogs, who worked most of the innings last season for the Blues. Chaffin, who was 3-13 in the circle, can also swing the aluminum, batting .298 with two home runs and 15 runs batted in.

She’ll be joined on the pitching staff coached by Chaffin’s father, Steve Chaffin, by freshman Jessi Moses from Princeton and James Monroe product Megan Powell.

“Kari is one of our returning athletes,” said Pruett, during Bluefield State’s spring sports media day last month. “She was our ace pitcher last year and I look for her to be our ace again this year.”

Bluefield State’s offense is paced by Bluefield native Ashley Sexton, who batted .291 last season with one home and six runs batted in as the Lady Blues’ first baseman.

“She will be a key part of our team this year,” Pruett said. “This is her senior year so we will be looking for leadership out of her.”

Other returnees include all-WVIAC honorable mention selection Courtney Johnson, an outfielder, who batted .273 last season.

Pruett will also be seeking contributions from outfielder Caitlyn Russell, infielders Annie Conklin and Cari Neal, along with all-purpose utility player Virginia Smith.

“She can do anything we need of her,” Pruett said.

Bluefield State will also reclaim the services of Canadian-born Bev Netusil, a catcher, who missed last season with rotator cuff surgery. Netusil traveled to Australia with Pruett and former BSC standout Elizabeth Hawkins for a tournament last summer.

There’s also an “five or six newcomers” that Pruett hopes to get acclimated quickly to the college game.

“They’re doing good work. It’s a lot different from high school,” Pruett said. “They’re having to learn new techniques, new ways of doing things and they’re just working as hard as they can for us so we’re pleased with everything.”

He’s also been busy recruiting for the future.

“We’re building from that and trying to get local talent in here,” he said. “We’ve already had a couple of verbal commitments for next year from local teams.”

Pruett doesn’t have to do it alone. He not only has the services of Steve Chaffin, but has three other assistant coaches, including his brother, Bradley Pruett, who is his infield coach. Jeff Johnson is serving as an outfield instructor.

“It helps me out where I can walk around in all phases of the game now and observe it and make sure everything is being taught the way I want it to be taught, “Pruet said. “That way when we get into a game simulation, I’m not all worried if we covered this or did we cover that. It’s all taken care of.”

Preparing for this season hasn’t been without problems for the Lady Blues, with the weather keeping them in the indoor batting cages and gymnasium or local parking lots for the early season.

Bluefield State, which started practice in mid-January, was slated to open the season on Feb. 6, but the weather kept them off the diamonds until eight days later in North Carolina, and then had to wait two more weeks before playing in a tournament in Indiana.

“It really kills us. When are outside you can actually walk through scenarios and describe things,” said Pruett, before the season’s first pitch was thrown. “When are you inside, you don’t have the visual points of actual dirt, grass and the outfield walls and foul lines, you can’t do that.

“That’s our biggest thing that hurts, but we are just going to have to go out there and see how things go.”

Following today’s twinbill in Salem, the Lady Blues will make their home debut on Monday at Graham Recreation Park against cross-town rival Bluefield College. First pitch for the twinbill is 5 p.m.

Pruett entered this season much more sure of himself as a coach.

“I’m more happier this year starting out than last year because last year was my first full year and I had some distractions,” he said. “Over the year, I learned to get over that.

“We are all looking forward to it, especially my coaching staff. We should have a good season.”

If hard work makes a difference than Pruett feels these Lady Blues are ready to make some noise.

“The players are working hard for me,” Pruett said. “This year’s team is by far more up than last year’s team. We have our numbers up, and our talent is up. We’re looking for a great season this year.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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