COLLEGE SOFTBALL: SPENCER IN SOUTH: SURPRISE SUCCESS : T.O. TEEN IN COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.Byline: Jim Inghram Daily News Staff Writer When Colleen col·leen n. An Irish girl. [Irish Gaelic cailín, diminutive of caile, girl, from Old Irish. Spencer signed a letter of intent with the University of Southern Mississippi last spring, it was a dream come true. Little did the Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. teen-ager know that the good times were just beginning. The opportunity to be part of a program that was building from scratch and playing for coach Lu Harris were the key reasons Spencer elected to attend the Conference USA Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. school in Hattiesburg. Playing in the College Softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is played by women at the intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is played by men. World Series in her first year didn't exactly seem realistic at the time, but that's where Spencer and her Golden Eagles teammates will be Thursday - in Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (1990 pop. 444,719), state capital, and seat of Oklahoma co., central Okla., on the North Canadian River; inc. 1890. The state's largest city, it is an important livestock market, a wholesale, distribution, industrial, and financial center, and a farm - at the College World Series. ``It's all so exciting,'' Spencer said. ``Signing a letter of intent was something I looked forward to my whole life. It's why you put in all those hours of practice and play travel ball, for just this chance. ``Add in a successful season where I earned a starting job, and a trip to the College World Series and it's almost too good to be true.'' Too good is right. Try unheard of Not heard of; of which there are no tidings. Unknown to fame; obscure. - Glanvill. See also: Unheard Unheard . First-year programs don't usurp u·surp v. u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps v.tr. 1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. 2. long-standing powers and advance to the World Series. There is no law against it, but until now there might as well have been. Southern Mississippi had a softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' program at one time but disbanded it in 1992. After seven years of dormancy, the school brought the sport back. Now it's bigger than ever. ``We had the goal to make ourselves known,'' Spencer said. ``We wanted other teams to know that we were not going to be an easy win. We worked really hard and this is a great reward. ``Most of the credit has to go to coach Harris. She has been there motivating and inspiring us the whole way.'' Harris used to coach at Nicholls State in Louisiana and guided the Orlando Wahoos
``I'm not surprised Colleen came in and earned that starting job,'' said Kenya Peters, a freshman catcher from Gautier, Miss. ``She always hustles. She plays 100 percent and always has a smile on her face.'' Said first baseman Tanya Ledesma: ``Competitive is how I would describe Colleen. She's a really good player and she has a burning desire to win. There is no quit in her.'' Spencer started 42 of USM's 59 games. The team went 52-7 and Spencer had a .961 fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player handles a batted or thrown ball properly. and hit .242 (22-91). She scored 24 runs, had two doubles, drove in six and stole five bases. Looking back, Spencer termed the year a complete success. ``I'm happy with where I am at,'' she said. ``I've handled my (fielding) chances at second and I've been getting on base. I know I have a lot of work to do, but I can't complain about anything.'' Spencer is equally proud of her social and emotional growth. ``The toughest part about being here is it's so far from home,'' Spencer said. ``There are so many adjustments to make and I don't have my parents here to help me through them, but my teammates have become like a second family and we help each other out with our little crises. ``Other than that, everything has been perfect. I've met so many people and seen so many places. I've been to every state in the Southeastern United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and I really like it here. It's changed me a lot.'' Success or not in the World Series, Spencer will be back home in Thousand Oaks early next week. She plans on playing for a women's open travel team and do a little relaxing. `It's all coming so fast,'' Spencer said. ``I love how things are working out here, but I'll definitely be happy to get home.'' SPENCER FILE Name: Colleen Spencer School: University of Southern Mississippi Year: Freshman Position: Second base Height: 5-foot-8 Age: 18 CAPTION(S): Box BOX: SPENCER FILE (See text) |
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