BILLINGS, Mont. – After having its 2020 season abruptly canceled after playing 23 games, the Montana State University Billings softball team makes its return to the diamond this weekend to kick off the 2021 season in Denver.
 
The Yellowjackets are set to take on Regis University in a doubleheader Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. Live video will be available online here, and live statistics will be available online here. MSUB's scheduled doubleheader against Metro State University on Sunday has been canceled for COVID-19 related reasons within the Roadrunners team. "The girls have been really excited for this moment," said Yellowjacket head coach Lisa McKinney. "They have been working hard, and I know they are excited to get back on the road."
 
MSUB was last on the field on March 12, 2020, playing a doubleheader at Western Oregon University. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced the cancelation of the remainder of the 2020 spring sports season the following day. "I am expecting the team to go out and find the love again, and just enjoy their time on the field," said McKinney. "When COVID shut us down (last spring) it was heart-wrenching for them. Now they're getting to go back out and play the game they love, and it is looking positive."
 
The 'Jackets will make their home debut with a midweek series against Carroll College, with doubleheaders scheduled for March 2-3 at Avitus Group Stadium. All MSUB home games will feature live video on the MSUB Sports YouTube channel, and live statistics available online here. Per GNAC mandate, no fans are allowed at MSUB home softball games during the 2021 spring season. "I'm just excited to get back out there with my team," said junior second baseman Morgan Quimby. "It has been a while since we have gotten out there to play a game, and with the really good energy we have it's going to be great to be back with the girls that I haven't gotten to see too much."
 
"The biggest hope is that we all stay healthy and get to play as many games as we can," McKinney said. "We understand that there are going to be some bumps in the road, but we also know that's what is going to make us stronger in the long run."
 
MSUB welcomes back a large cast of players who gained experience during the abbreviated 2020 season, with all 13 players who started 10 or more games back on the roster this spring. Catcher Skyler Jenkins, who was named among the 10 NCAA Division II players to watch in 2021 last month, tore it up last spring with a .473 batting average while reaching base at a clip of .532 and slugging .836. Jenkins led the team with five home runs and 15 RBIs while starting 16 games.
 
Senior Payton Reynolds also made the most of the shortened season, batting .429 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in her 16 games played. Entering her third year with the 'Jackets, Reynolds has hit 11 home runs and driven in 29 while starting 53 games over her two seasons.
 
Two more experienced veterans will further bolster MSUB's lineup, in seniors Brittanee Fisher and Allie Hughes. Fisher enters her final season with 20 career home runs, ranking her 11th in school history, while Hughes is a career .280 hitter with 10 home runs and 18 doubles. Both players were selected to the 2010-2019 MSUB Softball All-Decade Team released in the fall. "We are definitely super excited, and I am ready to get back on the field," said Fisher. "It has been really difficult, but we are working through it really well and taking it with grace."
 
The 'Jackets received a strong debut season from Marin Penney, who hit .340 with three home runs in her 15 starts as a true freshman during 2020. Britzy Hockett also impacted the lineup in her first year with the 'Jackets last spring, hitting .266 and being the only player on the team to start all 23 games primarily as a centerfielder.
 
MSUB's junior class features the likes of infielders Cailee Morgan, Sidney Pollard, and Quimby, who were each contributors last spring. Quimby has started 39 games, while Morgan has started 56 and Pollard 44 as the trio has formed the primary middle infield corps since 2019. "I just take my energy and excitement for the game and put it on the field," said Quimby. "I try not to think too much, and focus on having a good time. A lot of the time how I get good results is just by being myself and trying to do what's best for my team."
 
Giving the 'Jackets a boost in her first season in the program, Taylor Anderson hit .333 while platooning with Jenkins in 13 starts as a catcher. Anderson was 1 of 4 MSUB players to reach double figures in RBIs last spring. MSUB welcomes back two more veteran seniors to the outfield unit, with Georgiabelle Benning and Hailee Gregerson each bringing multiple years of collegiate experience to the 2021 roster. Benning has seen action in 68 games in her MSUB career while Gregerson has played in 40 through her first two seasons in the program. Fellow upperclassmen Sydney Norwood, who clubbed her first-career home run last spring, and Payton Meyer, return to the lineup as well.
 
Leslie Jones and Allison Hochhalter, who were each newcomers to the squad in 2020, will look to build off the experience they gained as juniors and compete for playing time this spring. Like Penney, Shelby Marquardt was another true freshman last season who got her first taste of collegiate action and is back for her sophomore campaign.
 
The Yellowjackets bid farewell to four-year star pitcher Maddy Lincoln, who finished her career No. 2 in MSUB history with 101 appearances in the circle. The team will look to upperclassmen Alyssa Etheridge and Haley Couch for leadership in the rotation, with Couch holding 92 1/3 career innings under her belt and Etheridge adding 155. Julia Qualteri also returns to the circle, after earning five starts and logging 20 2/3 innings pitched in her collegiate debut last spring.
 
The 'Jackets will be eager for the debut of Darian Olin, who redshirted last season after spending her first two years at Bellevue College. MSUB's roster also features four true freshmen, who will each compete for innings throughout the spring. Infielders Kilee Imada and Claire Bagnell will add depth up the middle, while Brie Frazier figures to be in the running for playing time among the team's outfield unit. The 'Jackets will also look to right-hander Jenna Kister to be a key contributor in the circle this spring.
 
"I'm hoping we just mesh together, and we get along really well and have a great group of girls again this year," said Fisher. "It's just going to be about starting to find everybody's niche and seeing how everybody plays collectively together. It's definitely going to be a learning process this year but I think it should go well."
 
McKinney is in her sixth overall season as head coach of the Yellowjackets, and second season of her second stint in charge of the program. Assistant coach Taylor Olsen begins her fourth year with the 'Jackets, and graduate assistant coach Ashley Ruiz is in her first season with the team. "In the fall we were just trying to figure this all out, and I think the girls did a really good job of that," McKinney said. "When they came back in January after the big break, they were more refreshed, knew what to expect, and were ready to go. When they came back to practice, you could tell they were ready to play."
 
The 2021 season marks the first time in more than a decade that the Yellowjacket softball campaign has not started at the Desert Stinger Classic in Las Vegas. The annual tournament, which began in 2010 and was the largest single-site NCAA D2 softball event in the country, was not held this spring due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.