Commitment to MSU paying dividends for Seitz

Vann Stuedeman remembers the moment like it was yesterday. Sitting in a Starbucks on the campus of Mississippi State University, the new Bulldog softball coach sealed a coveted commitment.

That pledge came from Oak Mountain High School product Caroline Seitz, someone that Stuedeman knew she could build her program around. 

“I’m tickled to have gotten that from her,” Stuedeman said. “It just shows the level of trust that they had in me as her parents, and would trust her to come here, away from home, and for me to be the coach to help her.”

Seitz shattered the record book in her prep playing days. She left with the Eagles’ career home run record, including a junior season with a .494 average, 19 home runs and 69 RBIs.

Through her first three years at Mississippi State, Seitz has led the Bulldogs in too many categories to count.

As a freshman in 2014, she hit for a .340 average, tops on the team along with hits, double, triples, total bases and slugging percentage. Seitz was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-South Region First Team and the SEC’s All-Freshman team as a result.

In 2015, her 15 home runs on the season slotted her third all-time in the Mississippi State record books. She bolstered the middle of the Bulldogs’ lineup once again in 2016, with a team-high five homers and 31 RBIs. 

“She’s just one of the most sound offensive hitters. She’s going to swing at everything. She’s aggressive,” Stuedeman said. 

Seitz played shortstop primarily at Oak Mountain because of her tremendous athleticism, although her coaches knew she would end up at the hot corner in college. She also showed impressive intangibles.

“She approached every game with the confidence that she was going to and if she struggled, she was going to find a way to help her teammates succeed,” said Kellie Eubanks, her head coach at Oak Mountain for her senior season.

Seitz made an appearance on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays this past season, leaping high for a chopper to third base. She made the snag, came down and fired to first to get the out to complete the gem.

The thing that makes Seitz such a good third baseman is not her ability to make the spectacular play, but to make the plays that are supposed to be made on a consistent basis.

“The routine plays are at times harder than the great plays,” Seitz said. “The great plays, you don’t have time to think about it. But the routine ones are slower, and you have more time to think about it.”

Mississippi State had only two seniors on this season’s team, a young squad that did not have the campaign it hoped for. However, there were flashes, as two of the Bulldogs’ three conference victories were against teams that advanced to the Women’s College World Series, Georgia and Auburn.

“We know we’re good enough, and we’re right there, and we just have to have a couple things go our way,” Seitz said.