Eagles Conclude Fall Camp Heading into 30th Anniversary Year
Vickee Kazee-Hollifield started the Carson-Newman softball program 30 years ago after a cafeteria conversation with then athletic director Ken Sparks.
As the Eagle softball program wraps up its fall camp, Kazee-Hollifield and her 1,025 career victories prepare to tutor a program that brings in a record 12 newcomers.
“It’s hard to get a first on me when you’ve been here so long,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “But I can’t think of a class of 12. We had 10 and 11 one year, but never 12 in terms of newcomers to a roster. That can try your patience at time because it takes time to get that correct repetition. That’s what we strive for every single day so our freshmen are in the same boat as our seniors.”
The Eagles spent the fall searching for replacements for an infield that saw a combined 511 starts leave the program. All-time home run hitter Sara Kelley, single season home run record holder Brittany Hefner and the player with the best fielding percentage at first Caitlyn Lance all graduated. Second baseman Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) does return.
Kazee-Hollifield also brought in Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) and Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) to the pitching rotation adding depth to seniors Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Sarah Howard (Georgetown, Ky.).
“They give us a different look with movement and speeds,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “We’ve put a lot on their shoulders to complement our two seniors.”
A 5-9 pitcher out of Eastside High School, Dean tallied 343 strikeouts for coach Suzi Atwood. Her sophomore year she boasted a 0.395 ERA with an 18-4 record in the circle. Her high water mark for an ERA came in her freshman year at a gaudy 1.251. Dean allowed 42 earned runs in the first three seasons of her high school career. She went 47-10 through her career. Offensively, she’s been equally impressive. She hit .513 her junior year and .529 in her senior season with a combined 64 RBI between the two seasons.
Kranz went 12-2 with a 1.20 ERA in 81 1/3 innings as a junior. She struck out 110 and walked 24 and helped lead Benicia to a 15-0 mark in the Solano County Athletic Conference and the Final Four in the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason.
Kazee-Hollifield touted the blending of newcomers with returners as something that brought her joy throughout the Eagles’ fall practices.
“Seeing the chemistry and the new players develop. We’ve largely started from scratch,” Kazee-Hollifield said. “Just seeing everyone work hard and their work ethic. They’ve shown good resiliency to work through some frustrating moments.
“I don’t know if this anniversary year is different from any other year. What’s different is that we have 12 newcomers to work into our rotation.”
The Eagles kick of their 30th season in existence February 4th with a double header at Belmont Abbey.
