Lobpries hits big for Texas A&M
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

Jamie Lobpries takes a powerful swing during a recent Texas A&M game.

This season, former Wharton Lady Tiger Jami Lobpries is completing what has been a solid career on the diamond at Texas A&M by competing for a national championship.

The current Big 12 Champions, Lobpries is starting in center field for the Aggies as they play host to an NCAA Softball Super Regional, the winner of which will advance to the NCAA National Championship Tournament. She expressed hopes that Wharton residents will make the trip to see the Lady Aggies in their final home appearance of the season and the final home game of her college career.

"I'd love to see as many people from Wharton there as possible," she said.

"The whole town has always been so supportive of me that I'd like to share this weekend with as many of them as possible. When I see people from here I know, it gets me pumped up that much more."

And while she's hoping many from her hometown are there, she's positive that she'll have two fans in the stands.

"My parents (Terri and David Lobpries) have attended every game this year," she said. "Their support would be unbelievable to some but it's the way they've supported me all my life."

And while this is the final "home stand" for the Aggies, A&M coach Jo Evans is confi- dent her team's season will extend beyond this weekend.

"We worked hard to host the Super Regional," she said. "Last year, seven of the eight teams that went to the championship tournament were hosts."

In discussing her softball career, Lobpries claims to have been more of an athlete than a softball player, an opinion shared by Evans, who added that was one of the big reasons for recruiting her coming out of Wharton High School.

"I recruited her because she was such a good athlete and would be able to play several positions and plug holes in the lineup," the coach said. "And she always had good speed, so we knew we'd have to find ways to use her."

This year Lobpries had the best year of her career setting personal highs in games played, 51; at-bats, 131; runs, 24; hits, 34; doubles, 8; triples, 2; RBIs, 28; walks, 26; while recording her fewest strikeouts, 19, since becoming a starter during her sophomore year. She capped off her breakout season by being named the Big 12 Player of the Week for April 7-14. But she shrugged off those individual accomplishments.

"I'm team oriented so whatever I could do to help the team was the goal," she said.

Lobpries said her greatest asset as a player is not natural ability, but being natural at working harder than anyone else, something she learned from her parents and from the whole community as she was growing up.

"My parents are pretty much blue-collar people who believed in hard work," she said. "Growing up, my dad never forced me to practice but was always there for me when I wanted to work on my game."

While other players had better numbers, Evans said Lobpries was as important on the field for her leadership qualities, including her ability to lead by example, than any other contribution she made to the team. The coach added she saw that during Lobpries' junior year when she was battling a back injury to stay in the line up.

"We've always had a work ethic culture in place here, but she goes beyond that," Evans said.

"She worked hard to get healthy and stay in the line up and turned herself into a terrific center fielder. She was a senior leader in a young outfield and did a great job of mentoring the other players.

"But you could tell she was going to bring that to the team this year by how hard she worked last year at rehab and treatment just to get into the lineup."

A sports marketing major, Lobpries' class actually graduated the weekend she was at the Big 12 Tournament so the team gave the graduating seniors their own special ceremony during a break in the play. She said she plans to attend grad school with the goal of entering into the field of sports broadcasting.

"I watch way too much ESPN during the day," she said. "But that's a field I'd like to have a career in if I can."

She's also doing what she can to help develop the next class of Wharton Lady Tigers, hopefully ones that will be able to contribute to future Aggie teams.

"I take a lot of pride in being able to represent Wharton on a national level," she said. "Wharton has always been very supportive and when I can, I like to go back and talk with the young softball players, work with them in camps and encourage them.

"I stress the fact they need to work hard and if they want to have success they have to invest the time to be their best."