Former Longhorns utility Mia Scott is a player that fans of Texas softball won’t forget anytime soon. Her devotion and talent will be missed, but head coach Mike White has a plan for the big shoes Scott left to fill.
“I’m thinking the two players we got are going to merge into a Mia Scott,” White said.
Freshmen infielders Jaycie Nichols and MaTaia Lawson are the top candidates who can bring Scott’s skills to the field in 2026.
Offensively, Scott was a powerhouse. In the three-game championship series against Texas Tech, she delivered four runs, five hits and five RBIs. Four of those RBIs came from a clutch grand slam in the championship-deciding game.
Nichols maintained over a .450 batting average with 66 stolen bases over three years in travel ball before becoming part of the Texas roster. Additionally, she was a four-time fastpitch state champion and a three-time slowpitch state champion. Lawson appeared in the championship series multiple times on the travel ball scene, earning several first and second team honors during her time playing.
Scott didn’t just shine as a batter, though. Throughout the season, Scott was a top third baseman, earning Softball America’s Star of the Week award and ranking on the top-50 watchlist by USA Softball. In the 2025 season, she had 147 catches and only six errors.
However, trying to replace Scott’s defensive reflexes with one sole player is a challenge that White isn’t tackling, and filling the void that this generational talent left won’t be a task anyone has to take on alone.
“I think Jaycie Nichols is going to show that she’s going to be an elite third baseman defensively,” he said. “I think MaTaia Lawson is going to show that she can swing the bat as effectively as Mia Scott, but you know, if she can hit .400 I’ll be amazed her first year. That’d be great, but we can work them all together.”
Each of these freshmen seem to have separated themselves as possible standouts in the eyes of White, and he mentioned that the two have spent the season in contention for the starting third base position. Specifically, he emphasized Nichols as a player with the potential to surprise fans this season.
“I think Jaycie Nichols [is] the one that’s going to surprise a lot of people, just in the way she runs the bases,” White said. “She’s aggressive. She looks to those next bases. I just like the mindset.”
Mindset could prove to be a crucial strength for a player adjusting to playing at this level. It takes time and experience to develop Scott’s level of expertise, and even so, the heights she reached in collegiate softball are ones that most will never approach.
Junior pitcher Teagan Kavan emphasized that playing as a group physically is just a single part of becoming a national championship-caliber team.
“It’s just getting really tight and getting to know each other really well,” Kavan said. “Like we know we’re capable, we’re prepared … it’s probably more mental than it is physical.”
