The University of Mississippi Athletics
Canadian Power
8/23/2002 | Softball
Aug. 23, 2002
According to Ole Miss softball players Desiree Layman and DeDe Justice, the Canadian countryside is beautiful. Apparently, they are big fans of the Surrey, British Columbia skyline ... the same one they blasted homer after homer into at this summer's Canada Cup, one of the premier international softball tournaments.
The Rebel duo competed against the world's best as members of the Florida Sun Sox. Playing alongside the elite amateur players from the Sunshine State, Justice and Layman demonstrated the offensive power that made Ole Miss one of the SEC's top home run teams a year ago.
Layman, a junior infielder from West Palm Beach, Fla., ripped a pair of long balls and registered a .429 batting average in helping the Sun Sox to a 2-3 record with victories over Ireland and the Czech Republic in the tournament. A sophomore utility player from Vero Beach, Fla., Justice collected five homers in the games, and provided some serious fireworks in the home run derby.
Justice, who tied the UM career homer mark with 11 in only her first season as a Rebel, finished runner-up in the contest, outdueling seven of the top eight power hitters in the world in the derby finals.
While elated over their success, Ole Miss head coach Candi Letts, who enters her fifth year at the Rebel helm, was most excited about her two Florida studs facing off with such stout competition.
"It's great experience for those two players," said Letts, whose Rebels recorded the highest winning percentage in school history in 2002. "It's the biggest international tournament of the summer. It's absolutely tremendous for those two to have the opportunity to go up against the best players in the world."
The pair was first eyed for the squad last March when Ole Miss participated in the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Fla. Games director Marge Ricker was impressed, and when she assembled a Florida team for the July 13-21 tournament, she immediately looked to two of the Rebels' top RBI women. Also on the team was fellow SEC slugger Jackie Marchetta from the Florida Gators.
Every corner of the globe was represented in the field. Teams included Australia, Canada, China, Chinese-Taipei, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain and Venezuela.
However, it was the fellow Americans that impressed the Ole Miss players the most. USA World, the American Olympic squad, put their incredible skills on display as did USA Elite, the Olympic B-Team.
"The USA World team was amazing," said Layman, who has started all 112 games of her UM career. "That's the No. 1 team in the world, and it's very exciting to be in the same competition with those types of people."
Despite the level of talent, Justice said her Floridian club kept a level head and approached every game with confidence.
"Obviously there was a lot of good competition, and our team was strong too," said Justice, who split time between designated player, catcher and first base during the Cup. "We had never seen these teams before, so we took it like any other opponent."
Nevertheless, the two's Canadian trek, the first trip north of the border for both, will be a personal memory not soon forgotten and an athletic experience that could uplift each of their games.
"It was awesome to be in that atmosphere, surrounded by so many different cultures," Justice said. "We also played a lot of excellent competition, which I think will only help us this season at Ole Miss."
