Mocs Softball Hits the New Year With New Faces and New Turf

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) Chattanooga softball cranks up their new season next week.
The Mocs enjoyed an incredible run in the SoCon tournament last year to capture the league title and automatic berth to the N-C-A-A playoffs.
Now the Mocs are ready to make a repeat run at the SoCon title.

It’s easy to smile on picture day when you’re the reigning SoCon Champs.
Even for the head coach…until he ponders the number of freshmen on this year’s team.
Said head coach Frank Reed:”I think we have eight. That’s a little concerning. I don’t think we’re quite where we need to be with so many freshmen. So our sophomores are going to have to carry a brunt of that load until we’re able to get our feet on the ground. Get some of those freshmen in the lineup.”
Mocs may not have much experience, but they will have a coveted softball commodity.
Said infielder Emily Coltharp:”We have a lot of speed this year. A lot of speed. A lot of slappers. That’s always a good thing. Speed kills in this game.’
Frank Reed is ‘Frank Greed’ when it comes to offense..he wants it all.
Speed and power.
Said Reed:”I think we hit 56 home runs last year. We were making a game in the office with all of our players. How many do you think we can count on for her, and her, and her? We got to 60-plus home runs, and if we can do that, that’s going to be cool with the speed that we’ve got. That would be really cool.”
Frost Stadium is the home of the Mocs. But Chattanooga won’t play there until April.
because artificial turf is being installed.
Said Coltharp:”I think the whole month of March we are gone. So it’s like crazy to think that whenver we get back here in March, we will have a turf field.”
Said pitcher Brooke Parrott:”Honestly I haven’t seen like any college teams that have turf. It is a little different. You have to play the ball a little different just because the hops are a little bit more bouncy. Definitely something that we will have to get used to.”
Said Reed:”The biggest thing I see is sliding. If you slide, you have to start early because you’ll slide right by the base, so that’s something we’ll have to learn.”