Back at it again

• By WILLIAM WEATHERS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When former LSU shortstop Tayl’r Hollis joined a group of 13 other collegians — including former teammate Rachel Mitchell — to play in a recent national tournament with the Virginia Legends, the event carried with it a sense of nostalgia.

“It was kind of like I was a little kid again just playing because you love the game,” Hollis said. “I felt like I was 12 years old again, just playing the game of softball again with no added pressure. It was actually an amazing experience.”

The opportunity to step back into a competitive arena for the first time in two months since her collegiate career ended was certainly appealing to Hollis, whose life had gravitated toward starting a career after softball where she’s worked locally as a personal trainer.

She’s been able to mix in private lessons on the finer points of the game with an aspiring player and still holds on to the possibility of playing overseas if the right option presents itself.

But for the most part, deep down, Hollis has watched the sport she played since the eight of eight fade to black.

That’s why the chance for Hollis to put on a uniform and her trademark smeared eye black, grab a bat and glove possibly one final time was worth the trip to Auburn, Ala., where the Virginia Legends went 7-2, including working their way through the losers bracket to win the 23-and-under ASA national championship for the third consecutive year.

“It was almost like I was playing for fun and there was no pressure,” said Hollis, who like Mitchell, was selected to the tournament’s All-American team. “We were just out there playing. It made it that much more fun.”

The Legends, drawing on Mitchell’s experience with the team last summer, received a commitment from Hollis to join the team before the start of her final season at LSU. They featured a roster with a Southeastern Conference flavor that included Florida All-America pitcher Stacey Nelson and Francesca Enea and Ashton Ward, Jennifer Lapicki and Lillian Hammond all of Tennessee.

“You play against people and you really don’t know them, so you make these assumptions in your mind of what they would be like,” Hollis said. “They were some of the nicest people I’ve met. We talked about our experiences. We wished we could have played again. We really created this bonded.”

The entire team arrived in Auburn three days before the start of the tournament to begin preparations for defense of its title. Because of a prior obligation, Hollis wasn’t able to travel and meet the team until the day of the first game and played shortstop that evening.

“I didn’t get to practice,” she said. “I got there and played. A few weeks before the tournament, I would go out and hit with my dad but that was the first time since May I saw live pitching.”

Hollis, who batted .250 with six homers and 34 RBIs in his final season at LSU, caught fire while Virginia continually staved off elimination, helping the Legends to consecutive wins over the team that knocked them in the losers bracket — the Georgia Fire — with a 3-for-4 performance in a 6-1 victory that forced a second and deciding game for the championship.

Virginia broke open a 1-1 game in the bottom of the third inning in support of Nelson with four runs to increase its lead to 5-1 before adding three more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Hollis went 2-for-2 while Mitchell also had two hits, including a homer.