The Southeast Missouri softball team is beginning its third year under coach Mark Redburn as they began their month-long fall season last weekend.

“We’ve had to spend the first couple of years trying to emphasize what we value and what’s important to us,” Redburn said. “That’s an area of growth for us. I think we’ve made great strides in establishing what we want to be as a truly Redhawk softball player.”

Last season, the team lost 13 one-run games. However, Redburn sees the experience and depth of this team as a key factor in turning those losses into wins for the upcoming season.

“Last year’s group, we were fairly young and fairly new,” Redburn said. “Five out of the nine were either freshmen or sophomores, and two of those other four players were junior college players that we brought in. We had seven very new or inexperienced players.”

Many times, student-athletes may not realize that the Division-I collegiate level of play is substantially more advanced than high school competitions

“I think just understanding how at this level, we gotta play 21 outs, we gotta learn how to finish. I think with the age and maturity, that’s going to be a big improvement for us this year. Our kids know what our expectations are and I think that will carry over onto the field as well,” Redburn said.

Sophomore shortstop Sarah Messex is looking forward to build on what she learned last year.

“I’m looking forward to being confident in what I did last year and knowing what we can accomplish and knowing that being confident in what we’re going to build off of, that I can build off of personally from last year,” Messex said.

There are 10 newcomers that joined the roster on the the softball team this year. Redburn expects them to fit in right away.

“This was the first recruiting class that we were able to get out in front of when I first got the job,” Redburn said. “We’ve got some very talented young players in here that have played at high levels and have experienced a lot of success. I think that will come with them and carry over here with them to this level.”

During his first year at Southeast, Redburn’s freshman class consisted of seven players. Of that original group, not counting junior-college transfers, four of them remain, two of them include junior third baseman Darby Pruett and junior outfielder Claire Wernig.

“It’s still early to tell. I was very happy with some of our players, like Darby Pruett. I can tell that she did some great things over the summer and is in great playing shape and condition,” Coach Redburn said. “Claire Wernig, she led our team last year, hitting .320. She’s always been stable and consistent. Those are two that have jumped out to me as returners.”

Pruett expects to be a leader this year.

“I think the expectations are set for me to be a leader this year. I think that’s my job, to keep everybody on track and make sure everyone is doing what they need to be doing,” Pruett said.

Redburn expects this team to have a breakout season with the combination of experience of his upperclassmen and talent of newcomers.

“The combination of experience and some youthfulness, just gives us more depth, more competitive experiences in our practices, which makes us better,” Redburn said. “This is our first year where I think this is our big breakout year.

Of course, we had some big wins over the last two years, but we want to have that season where it’s very consistent and we can go out and compete for a conference championship,” Redburn said. “ I think just knowing and understanding what it takes to do that is what our experienced returning players have to offer to our younger ones.”

Southeast won both of their scrimmages last weekend against Southern Illinois-Carbondale and Jefferson College. They will be in action again this Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Southeast Softball Complex.