Siloam softball finds ‘hidden jewel’ in Cope
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/Sports/24426/
If their is one thing that new softball coach Chris Cope will stress in 2009 with his Siloam Springs Lady Panthers, it’s the true meaning of “ hard work paying off. ”
“ I believe in order to be good and win state championships, you have to be fundamentally sound and fortunate enough to be around good kids who want to win, ” Cope said. “ Situation stuff will be an every day deal for the Lady Panthers. ”
In just his fourth year as a fastpitch softball head coach, Cope brings a winning mentality to the Lady Panthers program.
Cope, who grew up playing baseball in Beebe, takes over a Lady Panthers team that finished 6-8 this past season in Conference 5 A-West and missed the state tournament after advancing in 2007.
Former Lady Panther coach Dwain Pippin stepped down to become an assistant baseball coach for Siloam Springs under first-year head coach Jonathan Johnson, who is currently coaching Lincoln in the 4 A state tournament.
A year removed from leading the Dardanelle program to the Conference 4 A state championship in 2007, Cope accepted a junior high teaching position and varsity football coaching position here in Siloam Springs.
“ Winning that state championship ring made me miss it more, ” Cope said on his year away from the game. “ I really enjoyed being around the kids and the opportunity came about of taking over the Siloam program, so I took it. ”
Cope, in three years as a head coach at Harrisburg and Dardanelle, has a 79-38 overall record.
Before coaching at Dardanelle, Cope was an assistant for seven years at Harrisburg. In his first head coach stint at the school, Cope guided Harrisburg to the regional tournament for the first time in school history.
Cope said his Lady Panther players can expect practices to last anywhere from 2 to 2 1 / 2 hours.
“ We’re going to work hard, but at the same time, we’re also going to have fun, ” Cope said. “ There may be nights where we’re practicing underneath the lights. I believe in the concept that you don’t leave until you get it done right. ”
Having a baseball mentality, Cope said he sees a lot of similarities between the two sports.
“ Both baseball and softball are intense and involve a lot of teamwork, as well as communication, ” Cope said. “ However, I probably like softball more now because it is so fast-paced and defensive driven. ”
Defense, according to Cope, is the name of the game when it comes to fastpitch softball.
“ A good fastpitch softball game may only have one run scored, so it’s important that you play errorfree and be sharp on defense, ” Cope said.
The Lady Panthers graduated one senior in third baseman Jordan Rackleff from the 2008 team, but Cope is excited about the talent that awaits him in 2009.
“ We’ve got a good group of girls coming back, and I’m excited to know that we have three pitchers who have gameday experience inside the circle, ” Cope said.
Juniors Lauren Mills and Ashley McIntosh inherited the majority of pitching time this season, while freshman Maci Lewis also received some innings in the circle, and even tossed a no-hitter in the Lady Panthers’ win over Little Rock Christian.
“ We have to be strong at our pitcher and catcher positions, because in our conference, we’re playing against some of the toughest competition in the state, ” Cope said. “ From the River Valley on up to Bentonville, it’s a whole different game. The level of competition is intense and there are a lot of good teams within Northwest Arkansas. ”
Cope added that his Lady Panthers will not back down from playing state champion-caliber teams in the future.
“ We’ll play the Fayettevilles, Farmingtons and Bentonvilles, ” Cope said. “ I’m not scared to play the tough teams. The only way you get better is play those teams that will make you work hard. However, we’ll also play some weaker teams because they can give you confidence going into conference. ”
Cope added that he will keep current assistant coach Michael Robertson on staff for the upcoming season.
“ Michael (Robertson ) brings a lot of knowledge and will be a big asset to me getting to know these girls, ” Cope said.
“ The main thing is we’ve got to get some girls interested that haven’t played in a while. ”
The Lady Panthers, according to Cope, will thrive on aggressive defensive and hitting in clutch situations.