Senior duo Cali Lanphear and Breanna Dozier will step onto the softball diamond to welcome in a new season one last time Friday.
Since joining the team in 2013, Lanphear and Dozier have been a consistent offensive force for the Texas A&M softball program.
As a freshman, Lanphear began her career with a strong start. In her first season as an Aggie, she earned All-America Second Team honors and was named named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after recording a team high 21 home runs with 58 RBIs on the season. She continued to produce offensively for the Aggies in her sophomore and junior campaigns with a combined total of 62 hits and 64 RBIs.
After finishing in eighth place in the SEC with a 12-12 record in conference play last year, Lanphear said she hopes to continue to make a difference for the team in her final season as an Aggie.
“Our goal as a team is to win an SEC Championship and a National Championship,” Lanphear said. “Personally, I would love to hit 22 home-runs. The most I’ve ever hit is 21, which was my senior year of high school and freshman year here, so to reach 22 that would be fabulous.”
The SEC is one of the strongest softball conferences in the nation. For the past five years, an SEC school has either won a national title or has played in the championship series. According to Lanphear, each weekend they will go up against an SEC rival that will be a tough opponent to play.
“It’s dog-eat-dog every weekend,” Lanphear said. “In the SEC, it is just anybody’s game, anytime. Last year five of the eight teams that were in the Women’s College World Series were SEC schools, so that just tells you how tough the competition is.”
Throughout her college career, Breanna Dozier has gradually become one of the leading producers on the A&M roster. Since she’s worn maroon and white, Dozier has racked up a total of 41 hits with 41 RBIs.
Dozier presents the most danger while up to bat, posting a .529 slugging percentage in her junior season.
Dozier said she hopes to not only make a mark on the softball program this season with her performance, but also wants to impact her teammates with her personality to remind them to stay relaxed throughout the season.
“We don’t want to end where we finished last year,” Dozier said. “This is our legacy, we want to carry our team through success. We do anything we can to help each other out. I mainly use my personality to keep the spirit up. I try make everyone feel comfortable by joking around and being goofy, to make it fun around each other so people don’t put too much pressure on themselves.”
This past December, the city of Rowlett was one of several cities that was struck by a series of tornadoes in the north Texas area, causing an upwards cost of $1.2 billion in damage. Dozier, a Rowlett native, said despite the close proximity, her house was only minimally damaged.
“My house was a little affected, not too much, but my street was mainly affected, so it’s going to take a lot of time for everyone in the neighborhood to get their houses back to normal,” Dozier said. “I am blessed to know that that’s where I come from, and I’m still going to play the same and play hard.”
Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans has seen Lanphear and Dozier grow into leaders during their time on the team. Evans said she is confident they will be able to continue to hold those standards going into their final season despite the challenges they may face individually.
“I expect them to be great team leaders and excel on the field,” Evans said. “I also expect them to handle whatever pressures that come along, so that our underclassmen can see what it’s like to manage challenges on the field and still maintain a positive attitude.”
