The Seven Factor
By Lori Tippets
Highschoolgameday
A word to the wise; if you happen to be visiting the Pleasant Valley Lady Raiders dugout anytime during this softball season, don’t stand in the door! In fact, you might be better off by finding a corner somewhere to cower in, especially during inning changes.
New head coach, David Bryant, has initiated a new program called, “the seven factor.” Bryant explains it this way, “Everything we do is around sevens. This is a baseball philosophy because I am a baseball guy. With the “seven factor” we want to play every pitch like it’s the seventh game of the World Series. I try to explain to the girls how hard those guys are playing in game seven of the World Series and that’s how we want to play.
“We stretch on seven. Our whole philosophy is we want to get out of the dugout and on the field ready to play in seven seconds. We have our pitcher warmed up and ready to play before they get into the batters box.
“When we get three outs in the field we have seven seconds to get off the field and into the dugout. We get our batters on deck before they (the opposing team) get onto the field.
“We want to put a lot of pressure on the other team and play as hard as we can play.”
It’s not surprising that the new coach lists the “seven factor” as one of the strengths of his team. Bryant feels that most games are won and lost on little things like hustle and he wants his team to have the edge in that category, to play every pitch like it’s the last one.
The Lady Raiders already look on the field like they have adopted this philosophy. For the most part, they look like the Lady Raiders of old, those teams under legendary coach Sandy Hunter who brought home a slew of state championship trophies.
Bryant is going to have to bring a very young team along very quickly. The Lady Raiders made it to sub-state last year where they lost in the second round to
Bryant describes these two seniors as, “good leaders with really good attitudes. We do a lot of practicing with the younger ones and these two are really good role models. They have a better understanding of what I expect and I use them as examples.”
The rest of the Lady Raiders include three juniors, two sophomores, five freshmen and one seventh-grader.
Bryant will have experience behind the plate with Ashley Miller who has played at catcher for the past three years and will bring stability at that position.
Jessie Kate Stewart, a freshman, will play at first, along with some pitching duties. Stewart pitched last year and has some experience under her belt. Also pitching for the Lady Raiders will be Miranda Tisdale, a sophomore who Bryant feels adds an extra dimension for the Lady Raiders coming out of the bullpen.
While Bryant feels that pitching is his strength right now, he feels that the hitting game will catch up.
Returning at shortstop for
Bryant knows well the expectations placed on him to get the Lady Raiders back to the dominating force that they once were. Having lived in
The team’s fourth coach in as many years, Bryant knows that the key to success is consistency and he hopes to be able to provide that. After having coached baseball, football and basketball at Sand Rock and Ohatchee, Bryant is happy to finally be home.
While the former All-county and All-area baseball player had no intention of ever coaching girl’s sports, his family life dictated otherwise. “I live with four women, my wife, daughters Ashley [14], Anna [7] and Allie [2].” Bryant feels that with coaching girl’s sports he will be able to be with his family more.
As for bringing consistency to the program Bryant admits, “This is where I plan on retiring. I hope to be coaching softball here 20 years from now.”
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