Staff report
Zoe Hicks enters senior weekend as the lone “super senior” on this year’s team (Zoe took advantage of the NCAA’s ruling that allowed student-athletes from spring sports in 2020 to return for another year due to COVID19 cutting the season short). Zoe is unique in that she plays both softball (on the collegiate level) and baseball (summer leagues). She recently became the first female to sign with the Expedition League, a 12-team summer college baseball league. The Boissevain, Manitoba, Canada native will lead the Lady Techsters into a four-game slate with C-USA leader North Texas Friday through Sunday at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
Q: We heard you worked out with former Bulldog baseball player Amos Ramon this fall when you stayed in Canada due to COVID19. How did you two meet?
A I had looked at getting a job at the cages in Winnipeg at Home Run Sports. Doing lessons and using their facility to train before I came back here. The guy who hired me asked if I knew Amos since he went to Louisiana Tech. So I was hitting one day and he comes in and starts asking me questions about the places in Ruston and does the Dawghouse still have this and do we still go to champs for postgame. We started talking about how Ruston has changed and all the new facilities. We just hit it off with our mutual connection to Tech.
Q: So how did Amos help you?
A: He came in to work with his baseball guys, and I would be hanging out at the facility. I asked him if he could do some front toss and some baseball work as well. From that time forward I pretty much did batting practice with him every day. We would do film. We would break down swings. We would do this drill, that drill. Infield stuff. Outfield stuff. He was my baseball hitting coach. And now he still checks in on my about softball stuff here. He still sends me videos of my at bats online and gives me pointers. He runs the varsity academy through the Home Run Sports facility. He was running that the whole time. He was working with a couple of his kids that go to college in the States. They stayed home for the fall and then were going to go back for the spring season like me. I would hit at 10 in the morning with softball and then I would hit baseball in the afternoon. Then I would do my lessons at night.
Q: Is there a difference to your approach hitting a baseball compared to your approach hitting a softball?
A: Amos helped me understand my swing better. I was training both of them at the same time. I think that really helped me with my swing. I could translate the baseball stuff to the softball stuff. It’s basically the same swing with nuances to it. Pitch selection is different. That would be it. Good hitters are good hitters. Squaring a ball up, hitting the ball hard. Its’ mechanically the same. I train my swing the same ways.
