Quality at-bats key for Lady Miners

The Bauxite Lady Miners put their focus on the little things in every game, especially when it comes to having quality at-bats. “There is a lot that goes into that,” head coach Sara Tew said. “Last year, when we had more quality at-bats than the other opponent, 98 percent of the time, we won. “So we really focus on quality at-bats. I’m hoping that keeps them in a little bit more of a game-to-game momentum and not necessarily on one end goal. “That will help us.” A quality at-bat includes a six-pitch at-bat, a sacrifice situation, a hard-hit ball, three pitches after two strikes, or a walk. “I want to have more than our opponent, and our players are really excited when they get one, and I really like that,” Tew said. “They are keeping up with what they are doing at the plate.” The hope is, the more quality at-bats the team has, the further they will make it in the post season. Last year, Bauxite made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament after winning the district and regional tournaments. “Last year, having that type record, being undefeated, when we got beat by Bryant, the kids could breathe again,” Tew said. “They were nervous and anxious about being undefeated. “After that loss, we played extremely well the next 12 games or so. That’s why it is important. It doesn’t matter if we drop a game in March or April; we just want to finish and win the last one.” Bauxite has already played two games this season at the time of this interview, defeating Mayflower 12-0 in five innings and Benton 4-1. Returning senior pitcher Bailey Buffington pitched both games, tossing a perfect game against Mayflower and giving up just three hits against Benton. “She’s made all-state all three years,” Tew said. “She’s been our ace since she was a freshman and had an ERA under one for two of those years. “She’s really been pretty dominant for her career. She’s just solid.” Last season, Buffington had an ERA of 1.06 with a 31-2 record. She struck out 203 batters with 15 walks. Offensively, Buffington had a batting average of .394 with 29 RBIs and 4 runs scored. “She gave up three hits against Benton [on March 6], one of which was a home run,” Tew said, “but she also hit a home run.” Junior Taylor Sled returns at catcher after batting .566 with 58 RBIs, 24 runs scored, 16 doubles and 5 home runs. “She went off last year, and we will be leaning on her this year,” Tew said. “She goes every Wednesday to hitting lessons. “She doesn’t play basketball, so she’s always hitting, and she has a hitting coach that she sees every week. She is always working.” Sled has already signed with Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. “She works with those coaches, me and her hitting coach,” Tew said. “She is all the time doing something. She is very active.” Tew said Sled may not have the same kind of year she did as a sophomore, but she is always going to be an offensive threat. Other big hitters include senior center fielder Daniel Singleton and junior Ashley Redmon. “From top to bottom, we are stacked as far as the lineup goes,” Tew said. “Kids who are sitting on the bench could play for just about any other team. It is a great problem to have. “We are blessed offensively. That’s not been our weakness, for sure, the past couple of years.” Last year, Singleton batted .363 with 40 RBIs with 40 runs scored. Redmon batted .360 with 18 RBIs and 45 runs scored. “We are going to go through slumps in the lineup, but I don’t worry about our offensive game as I do our defense,” Lew said. Defensively, Bauxite is having to make some changes after losing its starting second baseman to graduation. “It’s been an adjustment, moving some people around,” Tew said. “We have three people playing positions that they didn’t play last year. “So we are adjusting defensively because we don’t have that one that I am used to having.” Tew, who is in her sixth year as head coach at Bauxite, said seven of her starters from the game against Benton were in basketball until a week prior. “So we are trying to get them back into softball mode,” Tew said. “After this year, we are probably going to fall off a little bit. This is kind of our shot.”