Following three months of summer vacation, the Wichita State women’s softball team took to the field last Wednesday for their first practice of the fall season. 

After winning last season’s competitive Missouri Valley Conference title, the first softball title in school history, the Shockers are preparing to start their fall season against Seminole State on Sept. 13 at Wilkins Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Head coach Kristi Bredbenner noted the energy and excitement of the team during the opening practice.

“It’s been a long summer — a summer that ended, to me, a little abruptly,” Bredbenner said. “I think they were disappointed not doing as well in the (summer) conference tournament after winning the conference. I the eagerness to get out there and get after it.”

All-MVC First Team senior catcher Melanie Jaegers said the first practice went “surprisingly well.”

“Usually the first practice is pretty rough,” Jaegers said. “We’ll run a few laps with people kind of getting used to the program. We didn’t have as many newcomers this year, but all of the newcomers came in and just fell right in the line with everyone else and met our expectations.”

Bredbenner and her team know that coming back with a title under their belts will pose challenges of its own.

“For us, there’s no surprises,” Bredbenner said. “Last year, I think we surprised everybody. We were picked to finish eighth in the conference — obviously won the conference — now they know we’ve turned a little bit of a corner here.”

Bredbenner considers the MVC conference balanced and even — teams now know to watch out for WSU. 

“We’re a team that is going to come and show up every single day, compete and has the ability to win the conference again, with returning eight starters and adding some great additions,” Bredbenner said. “I expect us to have a big target on our back.”

Jaegers agrees with Bredbenner’s assessment of the upcoming season.

“Everyone is going to be gunning for us,” Jaegers said. “We’ve never been that team. We’ve always been the underdogs that people have overlooked, so we won’t have that element of surprise.”

While the actual competitive conference season does not start until February, the team sees the fall season as a way to become more prepared for those first games in the spring.

“In the fall, we aren’t preparing for fall games — we are preparing for next year,” Bredbenner said. “Everyone will play. If we win, that’s great, because we are a competitive team, but it’s more of an assessment time.”

Junior first-baseman Cacy Williams — winner of the 2014 MVC Player of the Year, MVC Newcomer of the Year and numerous other 2014 awards — said he feels there are some small things the team can work on this fall, but believes her team’s first practice went better than expected.

“I thought practice was going to be a lot more shaky than it was,” Williams said. “I think we can definitely improve on defense, communication and confidence, but that will all come the more practices we have.”

Jaegers said she thinks the fall season is the opportune chance to release some of the anxiety that fouls up players during the first games of the spring season.

“We need to get all of our nervous energy out so we can be calm and composed for those first games,” Jaegers said. “Then it’s just tweaking things from there.”