"Last year was an interesting year for us," said Case. "We had some of the best things that has ever happened to our program. For the first time in our school's history, we beat a school that was ranked No. 1 in Division One, Georgia, and to prove it wasn't a fluke, we went to Georgia the next week and beat them again."
There were some negative points during the 2009 season, however.
"We had lost our best pitcher, our No. 2 pitcher, our closer, our second baseman. There are no excuses, but it was a difficult season. We limped toward the end," said Case. "We rebounded at the end; We were able to play in the championship game of our tournament, but we didn't win it.
"All in all, that's a disappointing season. We set out to win championships, and if we don't, then it is certainly a disappointing season."
Shaking off the troubles of last season, Case is looking forward to this season.
"We have high expectations," said Case. "All of our starters on the field are returning. That's very, very unusual."
Todd Cunningham is one of those returning players.
"This is his junior year, and I feel certain that this will be his last year with us because more than likely, if he is healthy, he will have an opportunity to go out and play pro baseball and we hope he will be drafted pretty good," said Case. "As a player, he is tremendous. Everything there is to do in baseball, he does well. Here is the neat part, as a person, he is at least that good. He is as solid as any kid that you would ever meet. He is the type of young man that when you are around, he makes you better. We are thankful to have him."
Case said that as a college program, he recognized that there is more than just playing the sport.
"We ask a lot out of our players in the classroom," said Case. "We ask them to buy into trying to be excellent, not only on the field, but in the classroom. I want to brag a little bit. This fall we had 31 players, 18 of those made above a 3.0, and ten of those is above 3.5. If you took all the player's and averaged their grade point averages, it's over 3.0.
Case described this year's schedule as fairly tough, but said he wanted it that way because they were an older team.
"We wanted to challenge our team because we are not a young team and we wanted to prepare ourselves," said Case.
Fans of JSU baseball can look forward to 31 home games, the most JSU has had since Case has been in charge. Case says that the group of seven early signees are the best class he has seen.
McGinnis described last year's season as one of the most exciting and rewarding years she has had as a coach.
"But, inside that year, there was probably some of the toughest times as a coach that we ever had," said McGinnis. "I was very proud of the team, they showed their character, and that is what I am most proud of."
It was a year of ups and downs.
"There was adversity during the year," said McGinnis. "But, they overcame it. As a coach, when you are trying to lead a bunch of young people, you can teach them that life is filled with adversity, but you've got to get up and continue and push though it head on."
The season ended 19-2 in the conference, 43-16 overall.
"We had a lot of good victories over some higher ranked teams, but one of the setbacks was losing the opening game of the conference tournament that we hosted," said McGinnis. "I don't think anyone was expecting us to lose, even as a coach, we didn't think we were going to lose. It was like a door shutting in our face. We were all stunned. We wondered how we were going to get up the next day."
According to McGinnis, in order to make it to the NCAA championships, a softball program like the one at JSU needed to win its conference tournament. That put pressure on the team to make a comeback and win the tournament. After the loss, Case was the first to talk to the team.
"That's what friends are for," said McGinnis. "They help pick you up when you are down."
Although the team won its second game, it lost its third and McGinnis felt the season was over.
In fact, she allowed one player to return home to Ohio and told her remaining returning players to come back to the final day of the tournament to work the concession stand and prepare the field.
"I said you will learn from this, and you don't want to be in the same spot next year," said McGinnis. "We were going to be better players for this by remembering that."
However, that Sunday, the Gamecocks were given an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. The only team from their division to get one.
"We had another opportunity to play," said McGinnis. "I told them that this is life, you have set backs, but we can learn from this. We have one more shot at this. And I can say, it was a lesson learned."
The team went on to win the Knoxville Regional, beating Tennessee and Nebraska.
Looking to this year, McGinnis says the future is bright.
"This year we have 11 newcomers, but they have a lot of the same characteristics of last year's team," said McGinnis. "And that makes them winners. I am looking forward to going into battle with them."
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