Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Hanging Loose With Paige Cook
July 27, 2021 | Softball
STARKVILLE – Before taking the field at Samford for a late-season, midweek contest, the Mississippi State softball team had a little fun.
The Bulldogs were 20-16 and without a conference victory at the time, and head coach Samantha Ricketts knew something needed to change. She could feel her team pressing, trying to do too much. So the team arrived an hour earlier than usual, and the coaches brought their summer kids' camp supplies with them.
Ricketts had tasked assistant coach Tyler Bratton with setting up a game for the players before they warmed up. While he set about laying out a bowling course filled with obstacles and hula hoops, the players explored the box of summer supplies.
Someone found a water gun, and then another and another. With coolers of water waiting in the dugout, the guns were quickly filled and the players began firing. They soaked the coaching staff and laughter filled the field.
It was better than anything the coaches could have planned.
"It made us play loose and feel loose before the game because we would cut up and kid around," sophomore Paige Cook said. "It was really fun. It wasn't tense, and it wasn't like 'Oh we can't play right now. We have to be serious.' No, we felt loose before the game and all around easy going. It got us ready for the game."
The Bulldogs picked up an 8-5 win that night, and Cook was in the middle of it with a three-run triple that proved to be the difference.
Spend any time talking to Cook and one thing becomes clear. She likes to have fun. She'll say that having fun is a defining feature of what makes her the player she is. Cook needs to feel relaxed to play well, and her ability to keep a smile even when she makes a mistake is what has allowed her to transition all over the field.
Coming out of high school, Cook was a third baseman, but she's only played three collegiate games there. Instead, for her first collegiate start, she was moved over to second base, somewhere she'd never lined up before.
"Third base, shortstop, I was always on the left side of the field," she said. "The biggest change is having a lot more responsibility and being on a completely opposite side of the field from what I'm used to. It was like a whole new world."
It worked out. On Opening Day, she hit her first career homer and drew a walk-off walk in State's victory. She collected a career-high four RBIs in that game before reaching base in all four plate appearances in the second game of the doubleheader.
"My first collegiate start, getting to play, being out there, I was just like, 'Wow this is crazy. This is what I've always dreamt of,'" Cook said. "As soon as I actually stepped on the field and the first inning had passed, I kind of got into a groove of things. It was like I was meant to be there."
It was the beginning of what would be a breakout year for the Cornelia, Georgia, native. She finished fifth on the team in batting average and led the team in triples. Coaches around the SEC took notice, and she was named to the league's All-Newcomer Team in May.
After the SEC didn't award an All-Freshman team in the shortened 2020 season, Cook lost the opportunity to achieve that goal. Before the 2021 season started, there was talk of naming an All-Newcomer squad for those that missed their chance, but Cook wasn't sure it had been approved.
Ricketts called the team together before they left for the SEC Tournament to announce the annual award winners from the conference. When she read off Cook's name, the infielder was shocked.
"I was not expecting that whatsoever, but the fact that my name was called was an amazing feeling to have that achievement on my belt," she said. "I had a good season coming up to that point. I knew I had been playing good. I had all the confidence in the world, but I never would have guessed that."
There were bumps along the way. Ricketts likes to remind her that she sometimes gives her coach gray hair as she learns her new responsibilities. But one of the things that stands out about Cook is her coachability.
"Growing up, I was in a different position 24/7. I was not the best person on the team, but I was coachable," she said. "I wanted to be there. I had a love for the game. Yeah, I wasn't the best, but I always gave 110 percent 24/7 because I wanted to be the best."
Those teaching moments usually went something like this. Cook would make an error, maybe because she'd fallen into a stubborn habit that Ricketts was working with her to correct or from a mental lapse due to her new position. As she returned to the dugout between innings, Ricketts would stop her to ask what she'd done wrong and walk her through ways to fix it.
"As she would tell me, I'm like, 'Oh, okay, I've got this.' Then I would do it right the next time – I'd have the same exact thing happen and I would be able to fix it," Cook explained.
When Cook would come back the next time, she'd be smiling ear to ear, proudly pointing out that she had made the adjustment.
"I have those moments where, yeah, I mess up," Cook said. "Everybody's going to mess up, but I still think, 'You know what? Do better. Keep going. Push yourself.' You can't just get upset about something that's already happened. I feel like it's better to let something go like that, push yourself even harder and learn from your mistakes rather than getting upset about it and flopping."
It's unclear if second base will be Cook's final home. Next season, she could find herself back at third or anywhere else on the diamond, but that's never deterred her.
"I've played every position I can think of, you know. Of course, first base – I'm too short to play first," she said. "I feel good wherever I'm put. If it's on the infield, I feel great. I can do outfield if they need me to, but as long as I'm on the dirt – the dirt's my home. I'd much rather be in the dirt."
For someone who loves the game as much as Cook does, it doesn't matter where on the field she is as long as she's on the field.
"I've always had that love for the game as soon as I started," she said. "I was absolutely terrible [as a kid], but for some reason something about that sport really drew me in. Ever since then, I've loved it and wanted to be the best at it that I possibly could be."
The Bulldogs were 20-16 and without a conference victory at the time, and head coach Samantha Ricketts knew something needed to change. She could feel her team pressing, trying to do too much. So the team arrived an hour earlier than usual, and the coaches brought their summer kids' camp supplies with them.
Ricketts had tasked assistant coach Tyler Bratton with setting up a game for the players before they warmed up. While he set about laying out a bowling course filled with obstacles and hula hoops, the players explored the box of summer supplies.
Someone found a water gun, and then another and another. With coolers of water waiting in the dugout, the guns were quickly filled and the players began firing. They soaked the coaching staff and laughter filled the field.
It was better than anything the coaches could have planned.
"It made us play loose and feel loose before the game because we would cut up and kid around," sophomore Paige Cook said. "It was really fun. It wasn't tense, and it wasn't like 'Oh we can't play right now. We have to be serious.' No, we felt loose before the game and all around easy going. It got us ready for the game."
The Bulldogs picked up an 8-5 win that night, and Cook was in the middle of it with a three-run triple that proved to be the difference.
Spend any time talking to Cook and one thing becomes clear. She likes to have fun. She'll say that having fun is a defining feature of what makes her the player she is. Cook needs to feel relaxed to play well, and her ability to keep a smile even when she makes a mistake is what has allowed her to transition all over the field.
Coming out of high school, Cook was a third baseman, but she's only played three collegiate games there. Instead, for her first collegiate start, she was moved over to second base, somewhere she'd never lined up before.
"Third base, shortstop, I was always on the left side of the field," she said. "The biggest change is having a lot more responsibility and being on a completely opposite side of the field from what I'm used to. It was like a whole new world."
It worked out. On Opening Day, she hit her first career homer and drew a walk-off walk in State's victory. She collected a career-high four RBIs in that game before reaching base in all four plate appearances in the second game of the doubleheader.
"My first collegiate start, getting to play, being out there, I was just like, 'Wow this is crazy. This is what I've always dreamt of,'" Cook said. "As soon as I actually stepped on the field and the first inning had passed, I kind of got into a groove of things. It was like I was meant to be there."
It was the beginning of what would be a breakout year for the Cornelia, Georgia, native. She finished fifth on the team in batting average and led the team in triples. Coaches around the SEC took notice, and she was named to the league's All-Newcomer Team in May.
After the SEC didn't award an All-Freshman team in the shortened 2020 season, Cook lost the opportunity to achieve that goal. Before the 2021 season started, there was talk of naming an All-Newcomer squad for those that missed their chance, but Cook wasn't sure it had been approved.
Ricketts called the team together before they left for the SEC Tournament to announce the annual award winners from the conference. When she read off Cook's name, the infielder was shocked.
"I was not expecting that whatsoever, but the fact that my name was called was an amazing feeling to have that achievement on my belt," she said. "I had a good season coming up to that point. I knew I had been playing good. I had all the confidence in the world, but I never would have guessed that."
There were bumps along the way. Ricketts likes to remind her that she sometimes gives her coach gray hair as she learns her new responsibilities. But one of the things that stands out about Cook is her coachability.
"Growing up, I was in a different position 24/7. I was not the best person on the team, but I was coachable," she said. "I wanted to be there. I had a love for the game. Yeah, I wasn't the best, but I always gave 110 percent 24/7 because I wanted to be the best."
Those teaching moments usually went something like this. Cook would make an error, maybe because she'd fallen into a stubborn habit that Ricketts was working with her to correct or from a mental lapse due to her new position. As she returned to the dugout between innings, Ricketts would stop her to ask what she'd done wrong and walk her through ways to fix it.
"As she would tell me, I'm like, 'Oh, okay, I've got this.' Then I would do it right the next time – I'd have the same exact thing happen and I would be able to fix it," Cook explained.
When Cook would come back the next time, she'd be smiling ear to ear, proudly pointing out that she had made the adjustment.
"I have those moments where, yeah, I mess up," Cook said. "Everybody's going to mess up, but I still think, 'You know what? Do better. Keep going. Push yourself.' You can't just get upset about something that's already happened. I feel like it's better to let something go like that, push yourself even harder and learn from your mistakes rather than getting upset about it and flopping."
It's unclear if second base will be Cook's final home. Next season, she could find herself back at third or anywhere else on the diamond, but that's never deterred her.
"I've played every position I can think of, you know. Of course, first base – I'm too short to play first," she said. "I feel good wherever I'm put. If it's on the infield, I feel great. I can do outfield if they need me to, but as long as I'm on the dirt – the dirt's my home. I'd much rather be in the dirt."
For someone who loves the game as much as Cook does, it doesn't matter where on the field she is as long as she's on the field.
"I've always had that love for the game as soon as I started," she said. "I was absolutely terrible [as a kid], but for some reason something about that sport really drew me in. Ever since then, I've loved it and wanted to be the best at it that I possibly could be."
Players Mentioned
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