Lady Pirates find inspiration, success
http://www.triangletribune.com/sports_05_04_lady.html

By Jeff Cunningham
Published April 30, 2008



HAMPTON, Va. - As a player, Regina Gibbons constantly worried about pleasing her mentor, Tiny Laster Jr.

Now, as Hampton's interim softball coach, Gibbons still wonders: What would Laster think? Would he approve of a decision she made or the job she's done this season with the Lady Pirates?

"I think about that all the time," Gibbons said. "Always wonder if I'm doing [Laster] justice. Or sometimes I'll face a decision, and I'll think to myself 'Oh, I need to call him!'"

Laster died May 3, 2007 after a lengthy battle with kidney cancer. The 61 year old had been a fixture of Hampton softball - and Pirate athletics as a whole - coaching the team since 1989. Laster went 535-300-1 heading the softball team, and led the Lady Pirates to the top seed in the MEAC Tournament last season before his passing.

Eight days after Laster's passing, Hampton played its first tournament game, managing a 5-1 win over No. 8 Morgan State. But the emotional toll began to take over, and the team lost its next two games.

"We really felt like we were the team to beat," sophomore pitcher Jada Jeffries said.

In just over a week, the Lady Pirates went from the conference's best team to being done for the season. The emotional ramifications of Laster's passing were accentuated by the reality that he had no assistant coach. Administrators from the athletic department did what they could, but the players were largely left to coach themselves.

"That was probably the hardest part," senior Angela Balser said. "Without an assistant coach to guide us, we kind of had to do everything ourselves."

"It's hard for a player to sort of rise among other players and act as a coach," Gibbons added, "and I think that had an effect on us."

Originally a walk-on for the Lady Pirates, Gibbons eventually earned a full athletic scholarship. In 1998, she led the team with six home runs while driving in 23 runs. She batted .315 despite missing 14 games with a fractured ankle.

Gibbons, who was and is still working at Hampton as the director of institutional research, had been talking to Laster about returning to the program as an assistant, but it wasn't until his passing that she came back. Even then, it took a lot of persistence and effort before the university decided to name her head coach on an interim basis.

So far, the move is paying off. Heading into last weekend's doubleheader at Delaware State, the Lady Pirates were 24-14 and 7-1 in the MEAC. Hampton leads the Northern Division over Morgan State, which sits 5-2 in league play.

Jeffries and Amanda Black are a large reason for that, as the Lady Pirates lead the MEAC with a 2.84 earned-run average. Hampton has struck out 162 batters, second-best in the league behind North Carolina A&T's 182.

Black, who has a season record of 14-8, is second in the MEAC with 94 strikeouts.

"Overall, we've had a successful year so far," Gibbons, a member of the 1996 MEAC champions, said. "We have solid pitching, and we are real good at playing defense, but we've been up and down in hitting this year."

The Lady Pirates feel they have unfinished business to take care of after the way last season ended, again hoping to lock up the tournament's top seed and taking the title May 10 in Ormond Beach, Fla. Though no one has actually come right out and said so, the season has been dedicated to Laster.

"It's hard to explain," Balser said, "but we can still feel [Laster] out there. It's unspoken, and we keep it within ourselves, but he's still out there with us."

So if Gibbons did call Laster, chances are he'd hear her.