FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University softball junior standout Casey Lifsey/Portsmouth has been named the Longwood Female
ARMS Software Athlete of the Week. Lifsey, who has improved her batting average by almost .100 since March 22, hit .385 (5-13) last week to help lead the Lancers to a 5-0 record. She tallied three runs scored and five RBI, while walking once. She logged a solo home run in the seventh inning in the team’s final game of the week at Gardner-Webb, marking her third long ball of the season. Through 32 games, Lifsey sits second on the squad with a .373 average.
Question and Answer Session with Casey Lifsey and Steven Sommer SS: Congratulations on being named the Female Athlete of the Week. What does earning this honor mean to you?CL: It’s pretty cool. It’s my third year here, so finally seeing my hard work and contributions pay off means a lot.
SS: You had a great weekend in the sweep against Gardner-Webb. Walk us through the series.CL: Coach Riley gave us a few goals, which I think helped us out a lot. We weren’t as focused on the big picture, per say, but by accomplishing those little things it helped a lot. We had goals for how many runs we wanted to score and plays we wanted to make. We’ve been struggling in the first games of series this year, so we made it a goal to come out hot, and our first game was the best of that series.
SS: The team is in midst of a seven game win streak. How do you keep the momentum moving forward towards the Big South Tournament?CL: I think the way we’ve been looking at it is that it’s going to be tough to have the same year that we had last year, so we’re just taking it game by game. We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves to prove something. We just want to keep working and show other teams that we can hang with them.
SS: What does it mean to you to step into a starting role this year?CL: It’s been great. I feel like in the past not knowing whether I’d be playing really affected my ability to produce. It’s great to know that I’ve solidified my spot because it really helps me get into a positive mindset instead of wondering when I’ll play next. It’s nice to have some consistency.
SS: What are you most excited for this season?CL: We have a lot of big games coming up. We play JMU, who’s a Top 20 team, and then Virginia Tech, who’s also Top 20. We just need to work on playing together as a unit. We also have Coastal Carolina and Campbell on the horizon, and after struggling against Coastal last year, I think playing well against them is one of our biggest goals. Other than that, we obviously want to make a good run in the Big South Tournament.
SS: Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?CL: I am a bit superstitious. It may silly, but say I’m chewing a piece of gum and we start doing bad, I’ll spit the gum out because I feel like it may have contributed to how we’re doing.
SS: What drew you to Longwood University?CL: I absolutely loved the campus. I knew I was coming to Longwood whether I was playing softball or not. I got to know Coach Riley, and absolutely loved her and everything about the program. Their dedication really brought me in.
SS: If you could play any other sport at the Division I level, what would it be and why?CL: Volleyball. I played in high school and definitely miss it sometimes. If I had put more work into it in high school, I might have been able to play Division I, but I love softball, so I’m pretty happy with my choice.
SS: Who’s the funniest person on the team?CL: That’s tough since we have so many funny people on the team. With Megan Baltzell, you never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. Libby Morris has some of the funniest actions on the team. Taylor Hedrick does some of the weirdest things on the team, but they’re so funny. We’ve got a lot of characters.
SS: If you could switch places with one person on the team for a day, who would it be and why?CL: Libby Morris. I think it would be extremely difficult to be a pitcher because everything rides on what you’re throwing. I think it’d be cool to see how she handles it on a daily basis.
