Trisha Ford's Aggies begin the 'fun stuff' this week at SEC Tournament

With the regular season in the books, Trisha Ford and the Fightin' Texas Aggies begin the postseason against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament. On Tuesday, Ford spoke about how her team has prepared for the week in Fayetteville and what remains ahead for the Ags.

Key notes from Trisha Ford interview

• It’s kind of crazy that the regular season is over. At the beginning of the season, it feels like it’s moving really slowly, but when you get to conference play, you feel like you blink and conference play is over. You’re now getting ready for the fun stuff.
   
• We were rolling, and then we went into South Carolina and had a very rough weekend. Watching film this week brought me back to that. We didn’t play well in any facet, but I’m excited that we’ve turned the page and are playing much better ball. I’m excited about Wednesday’s matchup with South Carolina in the SEC Tournament.
   
• It’s a fresh face and new ideas, but we’ve also implemented discipline and a standard. Practice is hard. I love practice, and practice should be where the stress is so you can play the game. The players were coached hard and coached to be better. It’s similar to parenting, and when they have structure and standards, they usually turn out OK. They always say they want to have fun. Well, fun is not losing. You have to love to grind. That’s the fun. Our Ole Miss series is what you’re going to remember. When you’re reflecting on your career, you’re going to remember the true fun. I want them to chase competitiveness and greatness. Don’t be OK with being average.
   
• We did a little bit of everything this week. We played Wednesday at Houston, so we gave them Thursday off and then did a little bit of group work and some team practice. Group work is individual stuff. When you get the whole team together, Jeff Harger doesn’t get a lot of one-on-one time. We did some defensive work as a team on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was an off day. It’s a balance. We’ve had to balance the academic stress with finals, but those are over now too.
   
• I’m excited about this tournament because I think it prepares you for the NCAA Tournament, and last year, this team did not know if they were going to make the NCAA. We know for sure we’re in, and if we didn’t have a rough weekend at South Carolina, we might be hosting. My teams always play with a chip on their shoulders. I’ve told them to remember how they played at South Carolina is the reason we don’t get to host this year. I’m looking for an edge to get people riled up.
   
• Rylen Wiggins holds down our infield. Koko Wooley has stepped up this year and taken her game to the next level. Wiggins is steady, but Wooley has had the most growth. Trinity Cannon has been a great player for us. You have to have a mixture of people that are returning and those that are new. Allie Enright has turned the corner for us in the box, and she has played a great centerfield. Star Ferguson is somebody that hasn’t played many innings but has continued to work and work and work. She hasn’t let opportunities pass her by in practice, and she has put in extra work when she wasn’t playing. It’s all starting to come together for her.
   
• Talk about dynamic. That’s Wooley. She can run. She can move. She can drop a bunt, and she can obviously hit balls over the fence every now and then. She can run the bases. She’s a dynamic athlete that is fun to watch. I enjoy watching her on the basepaths. She can pick apart defenses.
   
• Enright didn’t have a lot of playing time last year at Arizona, so this is really her freshman year. She has been steady in the outfield, but offensively, she has struggled. She comes in on her off days and does extra work. I always tell them that the game knows. What you do in preparation is what shows up in the heat of the game, so if you don’t prepare, it comes out in your lack of confidence. Your confidence comes from preparation. When you know you can execute, then you will. Enright has put in the work, and as the season has evolved, you’ve seen her get better and better and better.
   
• This team gets excited for the SEC Tournament, but you’re seeing some things click. They know they’re getting ready for the fun stuff. They’ve worked their tails off and have earned every bit of where they’re at this season. I just don’t want them to let it go by the wayside. They’ve put in all this work and surprised a lot of people, but they have to keep punching. For us to be who we are, we have to keep punching. It sucks that we lost that South Carolina series. Everything didn’t go our way. We had a lot of crazy things that didn’t go our way, but you make your luck. You create your breaks. We didn’t do a good job of punching back in that series. When you think of our last two SEC series, we did a much better job of punching back. That’s what I’m hoping we do this week.