by Malcolm Butler
Josh Taylor’s first day in Ruston may have been his most productive.
When the newly-hired Lady Techster softball head coach arrived in town in mid-July of last summer, the moving van still hadn’t even arrived.
Taylor said there wasn’t much he could do, but he wanted to try to be productive.
So he headed over to the Ruston Sports Complex to watch Lady Techster signee Gracee Hess and her Mariucci Patriot travel ball team play.
He also wanted to check out a name he had heard about from Hess’ father, Ryan, while on a recruiting trip in Colorado during June.
That name … Sierra Sacco.
An all-state performer at John Curtis High School in south Louisiana during her prep career, Sacco had signed to play at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi.
But her dream was to play Division I softball. Yet, despite all of her high school accolades, the speedy centerfielder hadn’t drawn much interest outside of a few offers from a handful of Southland Conference programs.
Sam Houston. Stephen F. Austin. Southeastern.
“I was in full panic mode,” said Sacco, who said she was offered by former LA Tech coach Maria Winn in early 2020 before being told months later the scholarship money wasn’t there any longer.
Sacco had verbally committed to Stephen F. Austin just a few weeks before Taylor saw her in Ruston. Verbal commitments are non-binding. Neither are junior college agreements (i.e. Pearl River).
So following a full day of games on a hot July day in Louisiana, Sacco and her family met Taylor after 9 p.m. at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field to take a look.
The tour was conducted. The offer was made. The scholarship was accepted.
“I took it,” said Sacco. “Being from Louisiana, I wanted to play in Louisiana. It was a shorter ride for my parents. The facilities were awesome. It was all very nice.”
But none of those things were what ultimately made the decision for Sacco. It was something a little more philosophical.
“I remember having a conversation with Coach Taylor, and we were on the same wave length,” said Sacco. “We both wanted the same thing … to win.”
“The thing about Sierra that was interesting was what she was most concerned about,” said Taylor. “She wanted to win. I liked that about her. We had similar mindsets on what we wanted to do as far as the program. That seemed to be more of a point of emphasis during our talks than the (scholarship) money or the facilities.
“Her concern was she wanted to play for a winner. It was interesting to hear a kid that was that late in the recruiting process that was more concerned about winning. It really intrigued me. I really liked that about her.”
Sacco signed with Tech in August.
And 10 months, 83 hits, a plethora of awards, and a Conference USA regular season title later, Sierra Sacco is the cornerstone to the future of Lady Techster softball.
And that future is now.
Expectations for the 2022 season were almost non-existent. Tech softball was a rebuilding project following two tough years in Ruston that saw records of 8-16 in 2020 and 22-30 in 2021.
But no one told Sacco, Taylor or the rest of the Lady Techster players.
They wanted to win now: 39 wins and the program’s second regular season conference title proved it.
And the immediate success didn’t surprise the Tech rookie.
“Coming from my high school the expectation was to win,” said Sacco. “The expectation was to win the state championship. The expectation was to win the district championship. That mindset followed me here. Winning is expected in my mind.”
Sacco’s statistics in year No. 1 in college are more than impressive.
Eighty-three hits are a LA Tech single season record and rank No. 2 in the country entering the national postseason play.
She also ranks among the nation’s leaders in batting average (.441), runs scored (54), stolen bases (28) and on-base percentage (.535).
Conference USA coaches voted Sacco the league’s Freshman of the Year as well as first team all-Conference USA.
Even the nation is taking notice.
Sacco was named one of 10 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year. She will find out if she makes it to the final three later this month.
It’s elite company.
So what makes Sacco great at such an early point in her college career? Just ask her teammates.
“She has really good knowledge about the game,” said senior outfielder Madie Green. “She comes into practice wanting to work hard, and she pushes everyone else to do the same. She is just so fun to watch.”
“There are so many things that make her great,” said senior infielder Lindsay Edwards, who was named the 2019 Conference USA Freshman of the Year. “In a good way, she doesn’t care. She isn’t looking at results. She is just out there to do what she can do. She isn’t trying to prove herself. She is out there to have fun. She goes all out all the time in practice and in games.”
“She is not afraid to be in a leader role as a freshman,” said senior pitcher Audrey Pickett. “She is in centerfield which is one of the most important position on the field. She has embraced the role. I always hear her in practice communicating and talking to the other outfielders. It’s really good see. I forget she is a freshman being on the field with her. You would think she is a fifth-year senior the way she acts on the field.”
Sacco started all 59 games in the outfield for Tech. In addition to her ridiculously good offensive numbers, she has also proven to be one of the top defensive outfielders in the country. Sacco covers a lot of ground. She gets to balls that most outfielders wouldn’t dream of making plays on.
She had nine outfield assists in 2022, including seven where she gunned down runners at home plate.
“Defense. I love defense,” said Sacco. “You can always make the next play. You can always make the next out.”
Does any of this surprise Taylor, who was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after leading Tech to the regular season title in his first season?
“It has surprised me only in the fact she hasn’t been caught up in the ‘I’m a freshman mindset,’” said Taylor. “She doesn’t give herself that break. She lives in a world of high expectations especially with softball. We had the conversation early in the year as far as what she wanted. Some of her expectations are a little high, but I think she can eventually achieve them. I think that is what makes her great. I don’t know if she will ever be satisfied.”
Satisfied is not an option for Sacco.
“I set high expectations for myself,” said Sacco. “I am not going to let myself fall below them. I always feel like ‘I have to get better.’ And I’m going to get better.”
Bad news for Tech opponents for the next three years.
Photo: Darrell James
