Wiggins says defending MEAC champion FAMU softball team is even better than last year

Looking from the outside, the Lady Rattler softball team’s 10-1 loss to Florida State seemed to be a blowout. But what is more important to Head Coach Veronica Wiggins was seeing the way her team battled after the initial onslaught of scoring.

“It’s a process,” said Wiggins, who is in her 25th year with the team. “We started out a little bit shaky, but we stabilized and battled with what we had. Sometimes things don’t go your way and you have to learn to persevere, and that’s what we did.”

The Lady Rattlers would produce a run as senior Kieifi Myrick’s clutch hit in the fourth scored Alexis Day to give the Lady Rattlers their lone score of the game. While FAMU could not make their way to a comeback, it was proof that the team would not just roll over.

Senior Jessica Nathan, who opened the game with a triple, echoed Wiggins’ sentiment that the team put up a strong fight. 

“I think once we were able to make some plays and get the ground balls we wanted, we were able to play more solid,” Nathan said. “Our bats are much more active together in the early part of this season, as compared to last season.  These ladies have the talent, but we’re playing together and as a family, and that’s what is making the difference this year.”

Last season, the Lady Rattlers had a rough start, losing their first 12 games, before defeating the University of North Florida.  They then went through an up-and-down spell, splitting games until April.  Sometime in April of last season, things began to click.  The Lady Rattlers defeated Colgate three straight games before settling in to conference play.  A final season series against South Carolina State propelled the Lady Rattlers into the MEAC tournament, hitting on all cylinders.

Wiggins is no stranger to preparing a team for the stretch.  Her understanding of having a team peak at tournament time is unmatched.  She has won 11 titles in softball in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and is well respected by coaches and players alike for that skill.

The Lady Rattlers rolled through the 2015 MEAC tournament, with a lone loss in the championship elimination game, but recovered to win a second consecutive conference championship.

This season, Wiggins wants more from the program.  

“To get a better seed in the NCAA Tournament, we have to improve our non-conference record,” she said. “We play a strong enough out-of-conference schedule with five tournaments early that will allow us to face teams from all over the country, along with some of the top programs in the nation,”

Wiggins says this year’s softball team is even better than last year’s.

“We’re better than we were last year,” Wiggins said with her trademark smile.  “We have a really good team and sometimes it takes going through adversity to get things on track.  It’s about chipping off a wall and knocking the wall down and getting better.  This is part of growth.  This was just one game and we’ll learn from it.”