By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. — They’ve erected netting beyond the outfield wall and across the service road to catch home runs.
Had to. Auburn hit too many of them in the creek last season.
The suddenly hard-hitting and defensive-minded Auburn softball team returned for fall practice in earnest Tuesday in a more advanced state in the second year of the Clint Myers Era.
“Last year,” said 2014 team MVP Branndi Melero, “we were all pretty surprised at what to expect. But now, we know what he wants and what is expected of us.”
Much has changed, now that Myers, who has nine softball and baseball national titles to his credit, is putting the Tigers on an accelerated pace after taking the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament last season.
“Last year, we had to say, ‘this is a ball, this is a bat, this is a glove,'” Myers said. “Now, we’re moving right along. When we say something it has meaning. Last year, it was a deer-in-the-headlights type of thing. ‘What are you talking about?’
“We’re not spending a lot of time teaching. We’re into the refinement. We’re in the first day, and there’s a lot of complexity being thrown out there. It’s to stir the gray matter.”
Melero says the Tigers understand.
