Playoff experience is a huge plus. Bishop High School varsity softball head coach Magda Leal-Vera is anticipating another successful season with the majority of her 2009 team returning this year.

Ten returners - including seven starters - are back from last year’s team which went 9-1 in District 32-2A, shared the league championship with Riviera-Kaufer and lost a tie-breaker to the Lady Seahawks.

Bishop won the bidistrict round of the playoffs and were then narrowly eliminated at Area by Danbury.

That postseason exposure, Vera said, should ameliorate the Lady Badgers this spring.

“It is very beneficial, we should have a pretty good team this year and hopefully we will make it a little deeper in the playoffs,” Vera said.

The Lady Badgers, these last years, have replaced wishing to make the postseason with outright expectation.

“The upperclassmen on my team - two seniors and five juniors - all have three to four years of playoff experience because they have been on the varsity team for a while,” Vera said. “I think that will prove very beneficial as far as what is expected of them. They are very eager this year to go further in the playoffs knowing that every season usually ends in the same round and they want to push their goals a little higher.”

To get into the postseason, however, Bishop will have to go up against the usual 32-2A bridesmaids.

“Riviera will have a very good team in our district this season,” Vera said. “Probably Hebbronville and San Diego will contend for the playoffs as well.”

After recently defeating Falfurrias and West Oso in scrimmages, Bishop was scheduled to kick off their non-district season on Tuesday (February 16) by hosting Refugio.

When it comes to experience and skills, the Lady Badgers are as good as any team around.

It’s their collective thinking in crucial game type situations that has Vera concerned.

“I have all of my infielders back, our pitching is very strong and I have a couple of freshmen - who have year round experience - that are looking pretty good,” Vera said. “But one of our biggest weaknesses is that when we get in a slump we tend to stay in it for a while so we are trying to work on that mental game and we should be pretty good this year.”

The Lady Badgers will compete at a tournament hosted in Port Lavaca Thursday through Saturday.