Vickee Kazee-Hollfield interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-1) head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield can become the 22nd collegiate head softball coach at all levels and the sixth in NCAA's Division II to win 1,000 career fastpitch softball game if the Eagles can pick up a doubleheader sweep of Limestone (6-0) Thursday afternoon at the softball complex that bears Hollifield's name.
"I know the kids are well aware of it," Kazee-Hollifield said. "But we have to approach these two as we would any other game. That's my approach and our routine will stay the same. We'll just have to see what happens."
Hollifield would be the first South Atlantic Conference coach to get to 1,000 victories in any sport. She has more victories than Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks, head baseball coach Tom Griffin, head basketball coach Chuck Benson and head men's and women's soccer coach Richard Moodie do combined.
This will be the 22nd meeting for Hollifield with the Saints. She's 20-1 all-time against the program. Limestone has accounted for two percent of Hollifield's wins lifetime. The Eagles have won seven straight against the Saints and picked up a pair of run rule wins over Limestone last season.
However, the Saints seems vastly improved from the 2-8 team that Carson-Newman beat when the two squads teed off last season.
The Saints have outscored their competition 56-8 en route to the six-game win streak to start the season. They've outhit teams 64-20 and have eight regulars who area hitting better than .300 on the season.
Saints starting pitchers Kelly Shearer and Taylor Wigmore have combined to win five of the Saints six games and have only allowed two extra base hits between the pair.
The Eagles counter with the top scoring offense in the South Atlantic Conference. Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.) – the reigning SAC Player of the Week – is second in the conference in hits (14) and first in the league in runs (11), while Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) has bombed three home runs and is tops in the conference in RBI (16).
They're part of a team that's hitting .390 (compared to the Saints .381). Carson-Newman has five players hitting .500 or better.
Whether or not the Eagles' offense can produce enough runs to give Kazee-Hollfield a celebratory Gatorade shower remains to be seen. But Kazee-Hollifield said she's just thankful for the people who have put her in a position to succeed.
"What makes it so special are all the relationships that you have," Kazee-Hollifield said. "We've taken it one game at a time and I'm thankful for all the relationships that we've developed as a result of all that."
First pitch Thursday between the Eagles and Limestone is set for 1:30 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with the first HD stream of a Carson-Newman softball contest at cneagles.com/live.
