BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The 2017 Lady Tiger softball team is in the midst of a two-week layover from the Mid-South Conference Tournament to the NAIA Opening Round. But unlike the previous two seasons where coach Shannon Wathen's squad had to load a bus after graduation Saturday and trek 10-plus hours to the host site, this year the Lady Tigers have just a 90-minute drive down south to Bowling Green.

Campbellsville University is co-hosting one of 10 NAIA Softball Opening Rounds with the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau, which starts on Monday, May 15 and concludes on Wednesday, May 17.

Also unlike the previous two seasons, the travel day diaries and feature stories are going to be a little harder to come by since we aren't visiting new places this year and I am running the media aspects of the tournament. So for behind-the-scenes news, we are turning to a few stories that were written by a couple of Lady Tigers themselves in my Sport & Media HP 325 class this past fall.

One of the major projects was to come up with feature story ideas, present them to the class and end up writing a story with a unique angle. A few Lady Tigers excelled at telling a story and today's in-depth look takes two-time Mid-South Conference Player of the Year Jacqueline Roof back in time to when a few teammates were her biggest rivals.

By: Jacqueline Roof
In the state of Kentucky when you think of high school softball, one of the first things that might come to mind is the region where the last three state champions or runners-up call home.
 
Yes, that region is the very first one or better known as "Region 1".
 
It has some history behind it. Reidland and Heath High School's were always strong, and, then, along came Lone Oak High School wanting to join the party as a softball power.
 
Nobody knows Campbellsville freshman Tori Humphery or fellow junior Neely Quint's athletic ability better than myself. The three of us have something special that nobody else on Lady Tiger Softball can relate to ­— we are all a product of the First Region.
 
It wasn't long ago that we competed against one another for district or regional softball titles. Quint wore the black and gold of Heath, I donned the purple and gold of Lone Oak, and Humphrey rivaled the red and white of Reidland. The three schools merged in 2013 to form what is now known as McCracken County High School.
 
If I had to choose one word about playing against Tori Humphrey and Neely Quint, I would have to use the word 'intense. The games against the three schools would always be neck and neck and would be a close. Most of the time it would come down to pitching. And what better pitcher to face than Neely Quint. 
 
After the merger was announced there was a lot of talk about how the three former rivals would get along. There were a lot of negative commits bandied about, things like the softball team wouldn't unite and they would just fight.

The thing that made it even tougher… the merger happened when Neely and I were seniors. Tori was just coming into her sophomore season and had time to adapt. If things didn't work out the way it did, we may not be at Campbellsville.
 
"I went from a team where we had middle school athletes starting in order to have enough to field a team to a team where freshmen were lucky to make the varsity roster," said Quint. "I went from playing for the same coach for four years to playing for an entirely new staff. Going in as a senior was a huge adjustment that I had to make."
 
At first it was a difficult change because everybody was fighting for a position. It is uncommon for a coach to come to tryouts and have 35-40 kids wanting to make a roster. At McCracken County, however, that was the case. A lot of good players would not make the team.
 
Still to this day we had a team saying there is no "I" in team but there is US in m(US)tangs. Since day one that was our goal. We understood we couldn't win games without our first goal being to come together as one and set aside years of rivalries.
 
I knew at the beginning if we could unite as one then the season would be one to remember. Being a member of the team was something special and I mean, who doesn't enjoy being part of something special??
 
McCracken normally does not play teams in their region because of the level of competition, so they would find opponents from out of state. In 2014 McCracken only lost four games — two to out-of-state teams and two against teams from Kentucky. The first year at McCracken we brought home a KHSAA Runner-Up trophy.
 
Coming together was very important to be the best team in the state and eventually the school finally put their differences aside. In 2015 McCracken won its first-ever state tournament and in 2016 they were runners-up again.
 
This Lady Tiger softball team is all about family. The bond that each player has for one another is strong and will always be remembered. Past and present players will always be family. Coach Wathen always preaches that the past, the present and future players are family. She has built the program that way and for the players to be successful. And to be honest, it was my senior season in high school where I learned how to come together with 25 other girls that I knew nothing about to achieve one goal…. A championship.
 
Maybe having three former rivals on a team is unique? Whatever it is, Wathen has used it where everyone can be successful at Campbellsville University.

Oh and that McCracken Country softball team, the venue they are playing at this weekend in the Best of the West Tournament?? Michael Buchanon Park – the home of the 2017 NAIA Softball Opening Round hosted by Campbellsville and Bowling Green. We hope to see you next week!


In addition to coverage of the NAIA Softball Opening Round, CU Sports Information Director, and Lady Tiger travel companion, Jordan Alves, will keep fans updated with periodic behind-the-scenes features on www.campbellsvilletigers.com and photo galleries on Facebook at Campbellsville Tigers. To follow Lady Tiger softball go to Twitter @CvilleLTS or @CvilleTigers.

Complete coverage of Campbellsville's trip to the NAIA Softball Opening Round can be found on the CU Tournament Central page HERE