An All-American third baseman for Auburn University’s softball team took time from her busy schedule to speak to the World Series bound Troy Belles on Tuesday.

Kasey Cooper spoke to the girls about the importance of studying and academics, being a team leader and not allowing someone else to determine your success.

Troy Belles head coach Larry Sanders said the visit helped alleviate what little stress and anxieties the girls were feeling going into their third World Series.

“She probably helped by talking to them,” Sanders said. “This is their third year in a row going to the World Series, so they really don’t have a lot of jitters … Every year they set their goals on what they want to do and when it gets to this point, they’re just ready to start.”

Sidney Armstrong, third baseman for the Belles, said it had been great to hear from a fellow softball player who had played for the Belles growing up.

“It meant everything for her to come out and talk to us,” Armstrong said. “Just having people there for us, donating money and sponsoring us all the years through the World Series has been great, but it meant a lot to us that she donated her time to come out and speak to us.”

Armstrong said Cooper talked about other things besides being in a World Series, and said the Auburn player had stressed the importance of being a team leader.

“She talked about being a team leader and how that’s most important with any sporting event you do with a group,” Armstrong said. “She told us that if you don’t have that, that most college coaches don’t look at you. She also talked about going to camps and having people notice you. She talked about having a profile on the website and letting coaches notice you and who you are, too.”

Sanders said he saw a boost of confidence in the girls after hearing from.

“It was great to have somebody who has been there and through it all,” Sanders said. “It’s a big boost to their moral to see what they can do. She talked about her size because people told her she would never make it, never be able to play college ball because she’s so small. Now, she’s the starting third baseman at Auburn. We have several girls on the team who are taller than she is now. She just stressed to not let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.”

The Belles will travel to West Monroe, La. to compete in the World Series starting Aug. 1. They have a first round bye, something Sanders said might come in handy.

“You’ve got to catch some lucky breaks, and we’ve got a bye in the first game,” Sanders said. “We don’t play until Aug. 2, so that could prove to help us. If we score runs like we’re capable of scoring runs, we should do well. You just have to play hard each game. You can’t over look anybody. If you do, you have to win in every inning. You’ve got to do what you got to do to win the game you’re in. It’s hard to get out of the loser’s bracket to make it to the championship game.”

Sanders said if the girls play as well as he knows they can, the team would excel in this year’s series. But more than anything he is excited for the girls.

“These girls are really excited,” Sanders said. “I think a lot of the parents and grandparents are excited, too. And the Troy community has been backing us all the way. We’ve had a lot of businesses donating money and we’ve had some good crowds at the ball games. It’s just exciting time for these girls and the coaches, too. To see them play hard and represent the City of Troy like they have the last three years is great.”