LADYS SET FOR BATTLE-The Lady Jaguars aren’t shying away from their expectations of 30 wins and making school history. David Hodges/Staff
Yasmin Mossadeghi admits she has a thirty mind.
Only one SWC softball team in the playoffs in 30 years.
Ouch, she said.
Thirty wins to make the playoffs in 2015. Doable, she says.
Two straight seasons on the cusp of the playoffs has Mossadeghi driven to win with her arsenal of young players.
Last year’s 23-16 (11-7 PCAC) campaign was good, but not good enough.
“We want to try to seal it early before April,” Mossadeghi said. “Get our wins towards the 30 mark. It’s great when you have 20 wins and it’s a winning record, but it may not be enough for you to get into the playoffs.”
Mossadeghi said SWC has the talent.
“I think we’ll be really strong this year,” she said. “The girls have a hunger to win. Even when I put them against each other they want to win. It doesn’t matter who they’re playing against.”
Redshirt sophomore Kayla Appenzeller, one of three returning players, said she is not concerned by the roster overhaul and looks forward to playing with her new sisters-in-arms.
“Last year we struggled playing as one,” she said. “This year we have the same goal, a championship. We all play hard. This team doesn’t give up like the last few teams I’ve played on.”
Freshman Savannah Fenn has played with some of her teammates before. She said she hopes the familiarity and chemistry will help the program succeed.
“I’ve played softball for 14 years,” she said. “Ideally I would like to win with the girls I’ve been playing with for a few more years or earn a scholarship somewhere in the process.”
Mossadeghi said the Lady Jags’ versatility is a plus.
“There is no position I can say we need to work on,” she said. “We are balanced everywhere.”
She said she is confident in her players that are fluent in more than one position.
“We’re pretty stacked within our 15, she said. ”We have seven players that can play multiple positions. Infielders that can play outfield and vice versa, so it’s kinda like we’ve got two teams.”
Last season SWC was third in the Pacific Coast Conference in hits with 125 and walks with 34. The Jags finished just behind rival Grossmont, which knocked them out of playoff contention. Mossadeghi said does not want a third consecutive post season whiff.
“We missed the playoffs by one game,” she said. “It came down having to beat Grossmont and lost in a thriller. We’re looking to turn that around and not make it come down to one game anymore.”
