A Celebration Of The Foundation
March 22, 2022 | Softball, Joel Coleman
Bulldog softball used the weekend to give thanks to the program’s trailblazers.
STARKVILLE – Janice DeNomie Skinner stood in the center of the diamond at Nusz Park this past Saturday. Her mission? Alongside Vicki Bonar Earnshaw, Skinner was one of two former Mississippi State softball players who'd deliver the ceremonial first pitches of MSU's game against Ole Miss.
There has perhaps never been a more fitting selection anywhere to handle first-pitch duties. After all, it was Skinner who literally threw the first Bulldog softball pitch that was ever thrown, four decades before the one she tossed to current State player Jackie McKenna on Saturday.
Now, 40 years since the moment Bulldog softball was born, Skinner – along with several other State players from the 80s – were back on campus to celebrate, reminisce and reconnect with the program they laid the groundwork for.
It was back in 1982, long before Nusz Park's construction, when the Bulldogs called a local city field – McKee Park – home. Along with hurling Mississippi State's very first ballgame, Skinner would in fact pitch all 14 of MSU's contests in that initial season. Little did she realize at the time the significance of it all and where it'd ultimately lead.
"When you get older, you appreciate it more than when you're in the moment," Skinner said on Saturday. "I was so thankful. I came from a family of five kids. I don't even know what happened. My dad came home and said, 'Let's go to Starkville. They're going to give you a tryout.' So, I did. I thought, 'OK, I'll go.' I just wanted to be out of my sister's room. Me and my older sister had to share I room, and I thought, 'This is great. God has answered my prayers.' So, I come down here and it was fun…and we did pretty good considering [it was our first season at Mississippi State]."
Bulldog softball was off and rolling.
It's easy to fast-forward through time and forget where things came from and how things started. This past weekend, Skinner, Earnshaw and the rest of 'The 80s Ladies' as they're collectively known by the Bulldogs of today, gave everyone the chance to reflect.
Every story has a beginning. These individuals represented Mississippi State's.
"I think it's just such a good message for the girls to see where this program has been and that it's bigger than just them and just this team and just us," MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We're representing – not only the university – but all those that came before us that played here and are proud Bulldogs."
The 80s Ladies blazed a trail that players like Mia Davidson now walk on. All those records Davidson has set? She knows full well they wouldn't be possible if not for a group of female athletes that paved the way.
"They literally gave women the opportunity to be out here on this field," Davidson said. "It's very inspiring. It started at a time where people didn't see women as playing sports as being important at all really. Knowing that they set the tone and didn't care what people thought and played their game and loved the sport, it's something you look at and don't take for granted."
Special. That's the term that perhaps best describes The 80s Ladies and what they mean to the softball program and Mississippi State as a whole.
It's special how they remain connected to the program after all these years. It's special the memories they've made together and what this all still means to them.
To be fair, some of that had to come with time. Circumstances left some former players hurt.
It was after the 1986 season when MSU shut down its softball program to add women's indoor and outdoor track and field. Former director of athletics Charlie Carr cited the lack of SEC softball competition as a reason for the decision.
The move closed the doors on a program that'd had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time ever and sent several looking for a new place to play softball.
"We had a really good program at the time, and we were very young," former pitcher Cathy Pippins said. "We had all put in so much work and really had a mindset to do well for the school. It was devastating."
How devastating? For Pippins at least, the hurt lingered on, as evidenced by a quick purchase she had to make prior to Saturday.
"When I realized I was going to come, I actually had to go buy a Mississippi State shirt because I was very bitter for a long time," Pippins said.
State softball returned to action in 1997 and the program has elevated ever since.
But no matter how much the Bulldogs grow, it's all coming on the foundation laid by Skinner, Earnshaw, Pippins and The 80s Ladies.
"They helped make it possible for little girls with dreams that wanted to play in the SEC, that wanted to play sports in general," MSU outfielder Brylie St. Clair said. "It's amazing to get to see them and be around them because they made this possible for us."
