VIDALIA, La. &045; Still sticky and flushed from a tryout at Bossier Parish Community College, recent Vidalia High graduate Miranda Doughty punched the playback button on her home’s answering machine several weeks ago, unprepared for the voice on the tape.

University of Louisiana-Monroe

head softball coach Rosemary Holloway had good news in the form of a schoalrship for Doughty ifshe would come pitch for the Lady Indians.

Doughty was so pumped she raced outside to tell her mom, Melissa, the news.

&uot;I never thought I’d be able to play at a Division-1A school,&uot; said Doughty, who was The Democrat’s All-Metro Most Valuable Player this year with a 13-2 record, 0-42 earned run average and 136 strikeouts. &uot;I always kind of wanted to go to Northwestern (La.), but when (Monroe) offered me a scholarship I knew it was a great deal I couldn’t pass up.&uot;

Doughty, who was a member of Vidalia’s 2003 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 2A state championship team, is one of six players from this summer’s Ferriday Gators’ squad that have drawn the eye of college and junior college scouts.

Her Lady Viking teammates, Heather Miller and Jenny Watson, have both received interest from community colleges but remain uncommitted.

Watson, who hit .349 this year and was an All-Met first-team selection as the designated hitter, turned down an offer from Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit and hopes her services can be used at Monroe as a walk-on.

Miller, who tried out for Jones County Junior College in Ellisville Monday, hopes to catch the wandering eyes of college scouts at the LHSAA All-Star game at Tiger Park on LSU’s campus at 11 a.m. Saturday.

&uot;I want to try and get across to them that I’m versatile,&uot; Miller said of her tryouts. &uot;I caught Miranda the other day at Jones and (head coach Grant Crowder) said, ‘You could be a good pinch catcher.’ I said, ‘Whatever you need.’ I’m that obsessed with playing.&uot;

Since the age of four, Miller has ate, slept and drank softball, and can’t imagine it all coming to a tearful goodbye this summer with the Gators, she said.

Gator catcher Krystyn Lovett doesn’t have to worry about saying farewell to a sport she’s played since the bat was bigger than her.

The 2003 Franklin County graduate signed with head coach Brad Gunnell and Southwest just as she was finishing up her final exams.

&uot;I know it’s going to be a lot of competition, but I’m ready to face girls that are better than me,&uot; said Lovett, who has been behind the plate for the last three years. &uot;I think I can handle it. I’m a big competitor.&uot;

Lovett has dreams of playing at LSU to fulfill, and knows college coaches pay great attention to the junior college ranks.

Huntington grad and All-Met first teamer Lauren Wagoner is set to join Lovett in Summit on a team with a lot of familiar faces.

Wagoner, who batted .371 for the Lady Hounds, played against most of her new teammates in the Mississippi Private School Association, she said.

After enrolling in classes and surviving freshman orientation Monday, Wagoner is trying to get use to the idea of college.

&uot;Right now it’s weird, not seeing all my friends that I went to school with forever,&uot; she said. &uot;I’ve got to do a lot of stuff differently than regular school ball.&uot;

Holloway has projected Doughty as a pitcher, the position where she left opposing batters dumbfounded and guessing.

However, Doughty added she’ll play wherever the Lady Indians, who were 19-29 in 2003, need her.

&uot;What really attracted me to the program is (Holloway) likes to recruit players with a lot of heart,&uot; she said. &uot;That’s how I grew up playing.

&uot;It makes you feel like everything you’re playing for is worthwhile. It makes you want to work harder.&uot;