This article is one in a series of features produced in partnership with the Southwestern Athletic Conference, exploring the history of the SWAC from its founding in 1920 to the present day. The series will run during the months of April and May.
The SWAC has a proud history in several sports, and over 20 years ago, one unlikely softball team, at the beginning of an unlikely dynasty, added to that proud tradition.
From No-Hit to Making History
The Mississippi Valley State University softball team entered the 2004 season on a mission after being no-hit by Southern in the SWAC championship game the previous year.
Softball was still a fairly new sport for the SWAC at the time, holding its first conference championship in 1997. Valley, compared to most HBCUs, was still in its infant stages, opening its doors in 1950 as Mississippi Vocational College before becoming Mississippi Valley State College in 1964.
Leading the way was a coach who began his career as a student assistant, then graduated to the program’s field general, Lee Smith. Smith learned his craft under the program’s first head coach, Bernita Alexander, beginning in 1996, then assuming head coaching duties in time for the 2002 season.
Smith, who retired in 2021, began to assemble a team that would become the SWAC’s first softball dynasty and the first to make a bit of history.
Beginning with their first regular season SWAC title and continuing into the SWAC tournament, the Delta Devilettes earned the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance the hard way.
Facing the same Southern team that dominated them in the ‘03 title game, Valley scratched out enough offense for a 3-2 win. Not bad for a team that went 1-33 just two years earlier.
Valley drew a tough assignment in their regional bracket when they opened against top-seeded UCLA, one of the true gold standards of NCAA softball at that time.
“The experience of being the first SWAC team to not only play in an NCAA tournament but win two games will forever be one of my most memorable college experiences,” first baseman Cristal Holmes told the MVSU sports website later. “When we first made our appearance, all we heard was, ‘Who sent their high school team here by mistake?’ The chitter-chatter was only fuel to our fire. We were a young team full of bulls. We ate, breathed, and slept softball.”
“We’re looking to win a game on a regional level,” Smith told the Greenwood Commonwealth newspaper, “but also we want to have fun and enjoy the experience.”
That first experience didn’t go so well as the Bruins got a perfect game performance from pitcher Keira Goerl in an 8-0 UCLA victory that dropped the Devilettes into the losers’ bracket against Missouri the next day.
That is where SWAC softball history was made.
A Moment That Changed SWAC Softball Forever
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Mississippi Valley State put two runners on, and catcher Natasha McFadden came to the plate with the hopes of a school and a conference on her shoulders.
Against reliever Erin Kalka, McFadden drilled a three-run homer to left field to give Valley a 4-3 lead that would stand up. The win was the first for the SWAC in the NCAA softball tournament.
Valley wasn’t finished yet, as they had another elimination game later that day against Ivy League champion Cornell.
There were no late-inning dramatics required as MVSU scored five runs in the first two innings and held off a brief Big Red rally for a 6-3 win to advance to the losers’ bracket championship game with a spot in the regional title game on the line.
“The majority of our team was from Mississippi and Arkansas, so going to California was huge for us,” Smith would say years later. “Our players love playing on the big stage, and they wanted to prove to the world that we know how to play softball at MVSU and in the south.”
Though they lost the bracket final 5-0 to Long Beach State, Mississippi Valley State had proven its point.
“Facing elite softball players was one of the best feelings in the world. Walking onto the field knowing we were representing the SWAC and having our swag about it was indescribable,” Outfielder Balencia Young-Ellington said.
“We already knew and felt like we were the best and would go toe to toe with any team. We didn’t care who they were. After the first win, I believe we shocked many people, but we expected it because we knew our team was exceptional. The second win allowed us a chance to show that this little team from Itta Bena, Mississippi, was something special.”
The Dynasty That Followed
For the next nine seasons, that little team from Itta Bena would dominate the SWAC softball scene, winning eight division titles and seven conference championships. The Devilettes picked up another NCAA tournament regional win in 2009, as well.
Lee Smith has since retired as Valley’s softball coach, but still serves as associate athletic director. He is also the school’s record holder for wins by a coach in any sport with 414.
And that 2004 Devilette team that made school and SWAC history will never be forgotten.
“It’s the little things like flying to Los Angeles, California, and playing the nation’s second-ranked team. The same team that had just played for the National Championship a year before,” he said. “The experience was unbelievable, and to coach that 2004 team is something that any coach would dream of.”
