By brady

Posted on February 20, 2023

Do you have any postgraduate plans yet?

Law enforcement.

Are you thinking you’ll stay in the Fargo-Moorhead area for that?

That’s a good question. I don’t know. They’ve kind of offered paying for half of the skills program here in Fargo. So I mean, it’s definitely an option, but it’s also really stinking cold here.

Why do you want to be a police officer? What made you want to do that?

I took a class in high school, and it was called Street Law. And basically it was we figured out the way bodies were being dragged and like forensics and stuff. And it was really interesting. So then going into college, I was like, I don’t know what I want to do. And so that was kind of just what led me [to] criminal justice. And it’s been very interesting to me. So I think this job that I’m doing right now will help me figure out if it’s exactly what I want to do.

Have you taken any forensics courses?

I haven’t taken any forensic courses, but I’m actually in a serial killer class right now, which is really interesting, but I haven’t taken any forensics class, which is a little unfortunate…Being a detective one day would be awesome, but [you have to] work your way up to that.

What are some of your feelings heading into the season with it being your last?

I mean, it’s crazy. I played softball since I was eight. So to think that this is my last season ever playing softball is absolutely insane. But I think we’re gonna be pretty good this year. I’m hoping to leave off on a good note, and I’ll win conference tournament, go to a regional. That’d be awesome. But yeah, I’m extremely excited. [I’m also] excited to go to Mexico for 10 days so I can enjoy some warm weather.

Did you always pitch?

[I] remember my coach was like, “who wants to pitch?” and half the team raised their hand and I was one of them. So, I started going to a pitching coach and fell in love with it. I played a little bit of basketball when I was younger, played like two years of volleyball, but didn’t stick with either of those.

What do you like about pitching?

I [like] the adrenaline. I mean, being out there on the mound, especially here in college, we played some big teams my freshman year [when] we went to Florida. It was one of my second times pitching and just the adrenaline [was] unreal. I mean getting to be a part of every single play, you never have time to get bored. You’re involved in really every single play.

You mentioned you guys had some big games last year. Are there any games you have circled on your schedule this year that you’re especially looking forward to?

We played Oregon last year, and lost 15 to zero, so going back definitely will be revenge for sure. I’m excited to play them [because] it was actually my dream school because I’m from Idaho. Oregon’s probably about eight hours away from my house, so I really wanted to go to Oregon. To beat them would be absolutely amazing. And then definitely Tennessee. They made it really far last year in the College World Series and regionals and stuff, so that’d be awesome too.

Do you have like a chip on your shoulder from the Oregon game?

I mean, a little bit. [Beating them] was one of those things that was my ultimate dream, [but it] wasn’t realistic. So, if we were to beat them, that’d be amazing. [Especially] because I wanted to go there so bad.

How important is it to you to get that conference title?

This is going to be my fourth year, the last three years we haven’t won a conference. So I haven’t got to experience it. None of my classes got to experience it. And I think it’s just something that we all really want to experience. And I think that it would help the program going forward with recruiting. I know one of the reasons I came to NDSU was because they had won and had such good success—they had won the conference tournament so many years in a row. And so I think not doing that for three years has probably definitely hurt the program. So I think it would be awesome not only to experience it, but, like I said, to help the program in the future.

Is it something you guys talk about a lot?

Oh, yeah. I mean, that’s like our biggest, ultimate goal—to win the conference tournament. I mean, our ultimate, ultimate goal is to go to the college world series, but you got to do it step by step. So, first step is to win the conference tournament.

What do you think are some of the strengths of the team this year?

I think that our team gets along very well on and off the field. When you have that many roles together, there can be a lot of drama. We don’t have that at all. I think that everyone gets along very well. We have very split ages—we have the perfect amount of older girls, we have a lot of younger girls, but that doesn’t seem to affect the team in any way. So yeah, our biggest strength is our team chemistry and all the time we spend on and off the field.

Did you have any athletes you looked up to growing up?

The biggest athlete I looked up to was Jennie Finch. She was an amazing pitcher. My pitching coach would always take videos of me and then put me side by side with her, and say, “Try to mimic her and do what she’s doing.” So yeah, it’s Jenny French for sure.

Do you have any hobbies outside of softball?

Since I’ve been in college, not really, because there’s not much time for anything else. But growing up, I loved camping, spending time outside, being on a boat.

What do you think you’ll remember most about being a bison?

I would say probably all the relationships that I’ve made here. I think that’s something that I’ll carry on with me for the rest of my life. I’m actually getting married in July. So I like being able to invite all my previous teammates…I just think that’s awesome. Like I said, just the relationships I’ve built here and the memories that I’ve made.