University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Q&A with Softball Freshman Samantha Papp
1/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- With the 2016 season just around the corner, Golden Eagle fans have the opportunity to get to know true freshman Samantha Papp. She is a local product who played at Oak Grove High School, who earned All-State honors, while excelling in the classroom.
How long have you been a Southern Miss fan?
Since I moved to Hattiesburg, which is roughly 18 years ago. I have grown up around here. I have always gone to games. My whole life.
I was actually born in Chicago. My family is all from up north. I don't have any family who went to Southern Miss, but we have lived in Hattiesburg since I was young.
What does it mean to play softball collegiately in your hometown?
It is amazing to me. I have grown up here. I have gone to the camps. All the girls that played at Southern Miss were always my role models. They were so cool. I wanted to be just like them. Now to be able to come and represent this program; all of my friends and family can come watch; it is amazing to be one of those people that I used to look up to.
What goals do you have for your Southern Miss career?
Megan Hill played here. She is one of my biggest role models. I always said jokingly that I wanted to beat some of her records. One of my biggest things I personally want to do, I want to help turn the program around into something all the younger girls in the area come to games and be so excited to meet us and look up to us. I want to be a really to be focused on the community and focused on getting fans in the stadium like it used to be 10 years ago. I have been around that. I know what it used to be like. I want to turn the program around. I think Coach (Wendy) Hogue is doing a great job and I want to know that I am doing the best I can to help her achieve that.
What would it mean to have your name alongside Megan Hill's in the record books?
I can't even explain how much that would mean. She is my coach. She is obviously amazing. My main goal is to know that I gave everything to this program regardless of if I break records or not. Just to know that I am doing the best I can and I have used all of the potential that I have been given and all the abilities I have. I want to know that I have done the best. To be associated with Megan Hill, that would be amazing. She is amazing.
Has she given you any advice?
Oh yeah! She coached me in high school my sophomore year. She worked with me a lot hitting. A lot of times we talk about the process. One of the big things she taught me is regardless of if you go 0-for-2 or 4-for-4 in a game, if you are consistently getting better and not focusing so much on the outcome, you will grow as a player. That has meant a lot to me this fall. I am not comparing myself to other players because I am not trying to beat someone else. I am trying to be the best I can be. That is probably the best advice she has given me.
What does it mean to play for head coach Wendy Hogue?
It is amazing. When she was at her former university, William Carey, she recruited me there. My sophomore year when I was trying to decide between schools, I thought that I really, really wanted to play for Coach Hogue, but ultimately I chose Southern Miss because they have more academics that I wanted offered. It is student-athlete and student comes first. Whenever I found out she got the job, I cried. I was so excited. I am not exaggerating. I was at a volleyball game and I started screaming and freaking out because she is the type of person that if I was a coach I would want to be like her. The relationship she has with her players. I think being able to play for her, I am already becoming a better player, but also a better person. That is what she wants. I love playing for her.
As a catcher, you have to be a leader on the field. How challenging has that been as a true freshman?
I was nervous about that. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. It is natural for me. I am loud and like to talk. I like to communicate. That is something I am working with Coach Mack (Mackenzie Sher) and Bailey (Stokes) helping me be more comfortable with, knowing I need to make a call and if it is wrong we will work through it. I need to work on being confident and calling those plays. A lot of the girls are really receptive and they don't treat me like a freshman. They treat everyone equally.
What does it mean to you to be a catcher and learn from Mackenzie Sher, one of the best catchers in Southern Miss history?
It is awesome. I don't know what I would have done so far without Coach Mack. She truly challenges Bailey and me more than I have ever experienced. Normally, catchers don't get that much work in practice, but she is always makes sure that we get our work in. I feel like I have grown so much as a player already because of this coaching staff.
Why should fans come and watch this team this season?
People should come out and watch this team play because I don't think I have seen this much intensity from Southern Miss softball in probably seven or eight years. I know that it is different being on the field as compared to when I have been in the stands. I have not seen girls this fired up on this team in so long. The growth that I have seen being on the team six months ago until now is astounding. I have never seen a team grow this much. We are all getting so comfortable with each other. We are all meshing so well. I think fans will have fun when they come watch us play. We are loud and we communicate and we have fun. We are trying to be more active with the community and have our fans involved in what we are doing. I think if they come to games they will have fun and they will see a completely new Southern Miss softball team.
The Southern Miss softball team is scheduled to play a 55-game schedule that includes 26 games at the Southern Miss Softball Complex. In addition, the Golden Eagles will play 19 games against 11 different teams that played in NCAA Regionals last season. Southern Miss begins the 2016 campaign at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. on Feb. 12-14. The Golden Eagles host Alabama State in a doubleheader at the Softball Complex to open up the 2016 home campaign on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
