By brady

Posted on February 20, 2023

You have been contributing to the team since you got on campus, what do you think has allowed you to be consistent over such a long period of time?

I would say day one, from the moment I got here, I had seniors instilling in me what Bison culture [is] and how it’s done here. I attribute a lot of that to the success that those teams in the past have had and it taught me how to do it. I’ve just tried to stick to those principles and ideals that they instilled in me. My freshman year, we won the conference tournament and that proved to me that if I put my all into it and keep working hard, that it’s going to pay off.

That feeling of winning was probably the best thing I’ve experienced softball-wise in my life. So, of course, that’s something I want to recreate. So, I just keep practicing that. I also know that whatever the outcome is, it’s always very rewarding. And I feel like it’s really about just making the most of my time here.

What do you do to try and stay calm in those tense situations you have as a pitcher?

I really try to just take deep breaths mostly. I feel like that helps a lot. And I try to just take it one pitch at a time. So, whether the pitch is a good pitch or a bad pitch or whatever the play is, I just try to move on from it and focus on what’s in the present because what just happened doesn’t really matter anymore. But I think just trusting that I have my teammates behind me and that I’m not alone in the situation. I don’t feel like I have to strike everyone out.

How have you progressed here mentally and physically?

Physically, I’ve just progressed through strength training and all that has helped me get stronger and build my endurance. My pitching motion has changed a whole lot since I was a freshman, like every year I feel like it changes.

But I’ve also progressed mentally just because, obviously, Division I is not easy. But I used to put everything on the line—I let softball define me and I realized now that it’s not a life or death situation. Of course you want to win and that obviously losing won’t make you happy, but it’s not the end of the world. I’ve also been through enough [to] the point where I feel like I can get myself out of tough situations.

That has to be so freeing now, not being defined by your performance.

Yeah, definitely coming in as a freshman I identified myself as an athlete. So, how I pitched in a game really affected how I felt after. But I think now, playing in my last year and knowing that I have plans after here, I think that really just changed my perspective on how I control my emotions during the game. Obviously, I’ll be upset if something doesn’t go our way, but I know that we’re really just here to have fun. That’s why we have sports.

Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to this season?

We’re all very much looking forward to Mexico. I’m sure you’ve heard that already. I went my freshman year, and I’m the only girl on the team that has been to Mexico. So, I kind of know what it’s like down there and it’s awesome. I’m super excited that I’m able to go again. Mexico is cool because all the teams stay in the same resort and it’s just about a five-minute walk to the field. And there’ll be days where we have fun trips or get to do fun stuff there. And we play some pretty good teams in Mexico. We play a couple of teams that we played last year. So both getting revenge, but also just beating them again are the goals. But Mexico for sure is the top one. And I think Minnesota will be cool to play in US Bank Stadium.

What do you have planned for post graduation?

I’m going to go to grad school for physical therapy. I don’t know where exactly I’m going yet.