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As the Missouri Southern State University softball team vied for a second national title at the NCAA Division II Women’s College World Series in Chattanooga, Tennessee, former MSSU head softball coach Pat Lipira, who led her 1992 team to the school’s only DII national championship, weighed in on this year’s squad.
Lipira said this year’s team has striking similarities with her 1992 championship squad.
“When I look at this team, I think about the 1992 team,” Lipira said. “It was a dangerous lineup one through nine. It didn’t matter who came up to bat; they were dangerous. It was a perfect combination of everything you need — speed, power, pitching and defense.”
Lipira also talked about one of this year’s starters in the circle, All-American Kiki Pickens, and Lipira’s ace in 1992, Andrea Clark.
“When Kiki’s in the circle, there are a lot of similarities (to Clark). Kiki has the drop ball and Andrea Clark had the drop ball. Therefore, the infield players are very, very busy. In fact, I believe we (the 1992 team) still hold the double-play record at the national tournament. When you get ground balls with a runner at first, you have a good chance of double plays.’
Lipira said the same holds true for this year’s team.
“When Kiki’s pitching, the outfielders can almost take lawn chairs out there,” Lipira said. “It was the same thing with Andrea Clark. You just didn’t see many fly balls.”
Lipira said both the 1992 team and this year’s team have provided fans with plenty to enjoy.
“They are just fun to watch,” Lipira said. “People that come up here and watch the team this year say, ‘Boy, they are fun to watch.’ What makes them fun to watch? Aggressive baserunning and enthusiasm on the field. That’s what the 1992 team had too.”
Lipira also said this team’s depth is similar to her championship squad and that current head coach Hallie Blackney, like herself, stresses the important role each athlete on the team plays in the team’s success.
“Our 1992 team’s 1-0 championship win in the title game was a pinch hitter,” Lipira said. “Hallie does such a great job utilizing pinch hitters and pinch runners. I always told my girls, and Hallie does this too, that everybody in the dugout has a critical role. The girl sitting in the dugout that day (in 1992) had no idea she was the one that would come in and knock in the one run that would win the game 1-0. You never know when your name is going to be called. You are critical.”
Lipira, who was college teammates at Northwest Missouri State University with Blackney’s mom, continues to be one of the most vocal fans in the stands, usually taking her place directly behind home plate of the field that bears her name. Kathy (Callahan) Blackney died a couple of years after her daughter was appointed head coach of the Lions, but her memory is still very much alive with Lipira.
In a 2023 interview, Lipira talked about what it felt like to watch Hallie Blackney’s team play.
“I smile when I watch the Lions pay softball because I know my former college teammate, Kathy Callahan, would be so thrilled and proud of her daughter,” Lipira said.
Lipira said she also sees similarities in Blackney’s coaching style and her own, particularly when it comes to building chemistry within people in the program. In an age where many college players jockey from school to school via the transfer portal, Blackney’s teams have remained largely intact.
“I’d like to think I would have had that too. She (Blackney) builds that family camaraderie,” Lipira said as she pointed to a large crowd of family members beyond the center field fence. “When you have that loyalty, that love of your teammates, it’s hard to back out of that.”
With all the similarities Lipira said she sees in her 1992 team and this year’s squad, she did say there was one big difference — one of Blackney’s other starters in the circle, MIAA Freshman of the Year Emily Davis.
“I would have loved to have had an Emily Davis,” Lipira said. “Kiki’s a lot like Andrea was, in terms of the drop ball, but Emily Davis comes in as a freshman with that riser, man.”
Lipira said some of her later teams had that combination of different pitchers, but it was something the 1992 team did not.
“When you pair up a drop ball pitcher with a rise ball pitcher, it’s frustrating for opposing teams and that’s what Emily Davis gives you,” Lipira said.
The second-seeded Lions won their first game at this year’s World Series on Thursday with a 5-3 victory over seventh-seeded Glenville State University (West Virginia). In their second game Friday, the Lions lost 3-2 to McKendree University, which had beaten MSSU 6-3, 8-4 in a Feb. 21 doubleheader at Joplin High School.
The Lions’ next game will be at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Continue reading...
Lipira said this year’s team has striking similarities with her 1992 championship squad.
“When I look at this team, I think about the 1992 team,” Lipira said. “It was a dangerous lineup one through nine. It didn’t matter who came up to bat; they were dangerous. It was a perfect combination of everything you need — speed, power, pitching and defense.”
Lipira also talked about one of this year’s starters in the circle, All-American Kiki Pickens, and Lipira’s ace in 1992, Andrea Clark.
“When Kiki’s in the circle, there are a lot of similarities (to Clark). Kiki has the drop ball and Andrea Clark had the drop ball. Therefore, the infield players are very, very busy. In fact, I believe we (the 1992 team) still hold the double-play record at the national tournament. When you get ground balls with a runner at first, you have a good chance of double plays.’
Lipira said the same holds true for this year’s team.
“When Kiki’s pitching, the outfielders can almost take lawn chairs out there,” Lipira said. “It was the same thing with Andrea Clark. You just didn’t see many fly balls.”
Lipira said both the 1992 team and this year’s team have provided fans with plenty to enjoy.
“They are just fun to watch,” Lipira said. “People that come up here and watch the team this year say, ‘Boy, they are fun to watch.’ What makes them fun to watch? Aggressive baserunning and enthusiasm on the field. That’s what the 1992 team had too.”
Lipira also said this team’s depth is similar to her championship squad and that current head coach Hallie Blackney, like herself, stresses the important role each athlete on the team plays in the team’s success.
“Our 1992 team’s 1-0 championship win in the title game was a pinch hitter,” Lipira said. “Hallie does such a great job utilizing pinch hitters and pinch runners. I always told my girls, and Hallie does this too, that everybody in the dugout has a critical role. The girl sitting in the dugout that day (in 1992) had no idea she was the one that would come in and knock in the one run that would win the game 1-0. You never know when your name is going to be called. You are critical.”
Lipira, who was college teammates at Northwest Missouri State University with Blackney’s mom, continues to be one of the most vocal fans in the stands, usually taking her place directly behind home plate of the field that bears her name. Kathy (Callahan) Blackney died a couple of years after her daughter was appointed head coach of the Lions, but her memory is still very much alive with Lipira.
In a 2023 interview, Lipira talked about what it felt like to watch Hallie Blackney’s team play.
“I smile when I watch the Lions pay softball because I know my former college teammate, Kathy Callahan, would be so thrilled and proud of her daughter,” Lipira said.
Lipira said she also sees similarities in Blackney’s coaching style and her own, particularly when it comes to building chemistry within people in the program. In an age where many college players jockey from school to school via the transfer portal, Blackney’s teams have remained largely intact.
“I’d like to think I would have had that too. She (Blackney) builds that family camaraderie,” Lipira said as she pointed to a large crowd of family members beyond the center field fence. “When you have that loyalty, that love of your teammates, it’s hard to back out of that.”
With all the similarities Lipira said she sees in her 1992 team and this year’s squad, she did say there was one big difference — one of Blackney’s other starters in the circle, MIAA Freshman of the Year Emily Davis.
“I would have loved to have had an Emily Davis,” Lipira said. “Kiki’s a lot like Andrea was, in terms of the drop ball, but Emily Davis comes in as a freshman with that riser, man.”
Lipira said some of her later teams had that combination of different pitchers, but it was something the 1992 team did not.
“When you pair up a drop ball pitcher with a rise ball pitcher, it’s frustrating for opposing teams and that’s what Emily Davis gives you,” Lipira said.
The second-seeded Lions won their first game at this year’s World Series on Thursday with a 5-3 victory over seventh-seeded Glenville State University (West Virginia). In their second game Friday, the Lions lost 3-2 to McKendree University, which had beaten MSSU 6-3, 8-4 in a Feb. 21 doubleheader at Joplin High School.
The Lions’ next game will be at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Continue reading...
