PROVO — What is the BYU softball team going to do after its most successful season ever?
Start preparing for another one next year, of course.
After celebrating their first-ever trip to the NCAA Super Regionals and landing themselves in the Sweet 16, the Cougars will say goodbye to several important players but won't let that daunt them in the least. After all, the Cougars have lost important cogs to their lineup before and gotten through it just fine, and they see no reason they won't be able to do that again.
The perennial playoff team just goes out and reloads every year with no need of rebuilding.
It will be difficult without Angeline Quiocho in the lineup and manning third base, but the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year is heading off after graduation, leaving quite a hole in the lineup. Quiocho boasts a .403 batting average, led the team in runs scored with 76, home runs with 28, slugging percentage at .956 and RBIs with 90. She also stole eight bases without getting caught a single time, knocked out 14 doubles and started all 59 games, despite a pair of eye issues.
Those gaudy numbers are going to be tough to replace.
BYU coach Gordon Eakin admits that "even Angie's presence in the lineup changes the game."
But the Cougars aren't worried. Now that Eakin's team has made it to the Super Regionals for the first time, he sees no reason BYU can't build on that and make trips to the final 16 an annual event.
The Cougars will also be losing first baseman Andrea Ramirez, who was second on the team in slugging percentage at .722, home runs with 19 and RBIs with 66. She hit .364 and also started all 59 games.
In all, BYU will be without six seniors, including Quiocho, Ramirez, Alta High School product Amanda Kellum, pitcher Christie Zinanti, Whitney Thomas and Amy Holt.
Zinanti's 3.50 ERA and 11-3 record in relief to ace Paige Affleck will be missed, but the Cougars have recruited a pair of Utah products to help out from the circle in Bingham's Tori Almond and Olympus' Carly Duckworth.
Despite losing so much with the departing seniors, the Cougars will return plenty of key players as well, including Freshman of the Year J.C. Clayton, who stunned everyone in the NCAA Tournament with her amazing numbers in the Regional, going 8-for-10 at the plate and then showing everyone it wasn't a fluke by adding a 3-for-7 showing against Arizona in the Super Regionals.
On the year, the shortstop averaged .430 with 80 hits and was 10-for-13 in the stolen base department.
She'll be rejoined next season by catcher Jessica Fitu, who also put up great numbers, including a .997 fielding percentage; second baseman Kristin Delahoussaye, whose plays from the field stopped the other teams from scoring as many runs as she scored for the Cougars with her solid offense and a team-leading 17 doubles; Jessica Dugas, who also came on strong late in the season and in the playoffs, and Delaney Willard, who has a knack for getting hits just when they matter most.
Affleck will again lead the team from the circle, bringing back her 2.35 ERA and some crucial experience.
Though the Cougars were thrilled with their Super Regionals experience, despite losing a pair to Arizona by scores of 2-1 and 10-2 in Tucson, they are also hoping that historical moment is only a springboard to a future filled with such experiences.
e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com