It’s been two years since Tiffany Toney left the elite confines of NCAA Division I softball at Oklahoma and her childhood home in North Texas. In moving to suburban Prince George’s County and Division II Bowie State, not only has she learned about the humbling experience of clearing rocks from the infield before games but also greater lessons about herself.
Recently named Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association player of the year, last weekend Toney helped the Bulldogs captured their first-ever CIAA championship and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA regional tournament.
“It was a dramatic change,” said Toney, who grew up in Abilene, Tex.and moved to the Washington area with her family when her father, who is in the Air Force, was transferred to Andrews Air Force Base. “I was glad to come into a program where the athletes were just as dedicated as D-I athletes and worked just as hard.”
“It was a blessing,” said Bulldogs head coach Fred Burroughs of her arrival last season. “That was a big, big acquisition for us.”
A red-shirt sophomore, Toney bats a team-leading .491. As Bowie’s most versatile player, she starts at shortstop, but can play anywhere on the field. She’s the team’s hardest-throwing pitcher — one of three with an ERA under 2.90 — and despite only 17 innings in 34 games, could start when the NCAAs begin in two weeks.
But Toney is also from the South, with a personality at odds with the East Coast, where people and temperatures are often much colder.
“She’s the nicest girl on the team,” said junior pitcher Jillian Willey. “Right away she’s really friendly and really open to any suggestions. She’s just one of those people that really works hard.”
Although at times she’s considered returning to Texas, Toney has been grateful for the off-field lessons she’s learned in Washington. A broadcast journalism major, she’s got a prized internship in at NBC4 this summer, and academically a junior, she plans to complete her degree at Bowie State.
“I’ve learned a lot culturally as well,” said Toney. “The African-American community is huge here, and so I’ve never experienced anything like that growing up in Texas. I’ve just learned a lot about things I don’t think I would’ve learned any other way.”
Beleaguered Bulldogs
The Bulldogs (27-7) nearly played themselves to exhaustion before conference play had started thanks to a front-loaded schedule of 14 games in the season’s first nine days. Bowie finished that stretch by losing seven of eight and falling to 7-7 overall before winning the next 20 straight, capped by a 9-4 victory over Virginia State in the CIAA final.
“I kicked myself because I said I shouldn’t have done that to them,” said head coach Fred Burroughs. “When we play those types of teams, I’ve got to give my team adequate rest and time for preparation. I will not put them through that again.”
