NATCHITOCHES – There's not much more you can ask for in mid-February than sunny skies and softball, and that's exactly what it is store at the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission Lady Demon Classic this weekend at Northwestern State.
 
Five teams will compete over the course of three days as the 2022 softball season begins in earnest with the Lady Demons playing two games on Friday, two more on Saturday and a Sunday morning finale.
 
"We're excited to be back and to have all the support we do for these games," head coach Donald Pickett said as he enters his 14^th season with the Lady Demons. "It's a great chance for fans and supporters to come watch us early in the year. The weather looks like it's going to be great so looking forward to seeing everyone out here."
 
All NSU games will be streamed live on www.nsudemons.com/watch or on the NSU Athletics mobile app, with live stat links available for all games of the classic on the website as well.
 
The Lady Demons open their season with a doubleheader on Friday afternoon beginning with a 12:30 p.m. start against Chattanooga immediately followed by a matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
With UT Martin out of the Ohio Valley Conference and Baylor from the Big 12 also in the field of teams, the competition for everyone will serve as a challenging early-season litmus test.
 
"The girls have really been working hard since Christmas break, scrimmaging against each other and practicing but we're ready to get on the field with somebody different," Pickett said. "We're going to be tested this weekend with a lot of quality programs and it's going to give us a good idea of where we're at and see where we need to improve. 
 
"Everybody brings something a little different with different styles of play. That's what we want to do. Let our girls see as many different styles and pitchers as we can early in the year to prepare us for conference season."
 
NSU will have a handful of familiar names scattered throughout the starting lineup, including preseason all-conference short stop Keely DuBois, Kat Marshall at first, Laney Roos and Taylor Williams. The departure of four starters however opens the door for several new faces that will be making their NSU debuts this weekend, especially in the pitching circle.
 
Bronte Rhoden and Kenzie Seely are the only two pitchers on the staff that have gave NSU outs a season ago. Rhoden threw 56.1 in eight starts and 15 overall appearances and as the only upper classman on the staff, has stepped into a leadership role among the group of young arms. 
 
"It's been really interesting kind of being the grandma of the staff," she joked. "But I think it's helped me grow as a pitcher and helped me see the bigger picture. I think we have a great staff this year and we really complement each other. All of us have the ability to start or come in as a reliever and it's great for us to be able to utilize people in different spots."
 
Redshirt freshman Maggie Darr and true freshman Sage Hoover are expected to throw their first innings in an NSU uniform this weekend.
 
"We're going to get a lot of people in during preseason and they've earned those opportunities to play with how hard they've worked this year," Pickett said about the entire group of newcomers. "But it's going to be important for us to stay within ourselves and not get too excited.
 
"I think that's the key early in the year to be successful, just being able to control those emotions, do the things that you can do and be confident doing them. If we can be confident and aggressive in everything that we do this weekend, even through the failures, bounce back and keep playing, hopefully we can get some wins and feel going about the weekend."