The effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on spring sports last season still echo today. Spring sport teams, such as ASU softball, use the fall to schedule scrimmages to help prepare them for the upcoming season, something that is lost this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, even with these minor setbacks, the team has taken advantage of the limited time they have had together on the field.
“I definitely feel like we’ve taken advantage of the change,” junior utility player Mailey McLemore said. “We’ve had a lot more small group work that has given us a chance to really focus on what we need to improve individually.”
The usual fall season for softball consists of six to eight weeks of practices, totaling 20 hours per week, with around a month of games against different schools. But this fall, ASU softball was only able to have a few 20-hour weeks with small group workouts and intrasquad games that followed COVID-19 guidelines.
“It would have been cool to get a couple games in before the season, but we were able to practice instead,” sophomore outfielder Jazmine Hill said. “We have been having a couple intrasquad scrimmages, so at least we are still facing live pitching.”
ASU head coach Trisha Ford acknowledges the lack of full-squad practices this fall has made building team chemistry ahead of the new season more difficult. However, Ford is grateful for her team getting a chance to be on the field together.
"What the girls really need right now is to just be around each other and feed off of each other's energy," Ford said.
Off the field, despite not being able to get the full team together, veteran players have worked to organize small-group events to help build team chemistry, such as dinners and study sessions.
“The older girls have done a great job trying to bring the team together in any way they can,” Ford said.
Ford said while talent and competitiveness are important to any team's success, so is having strong chemistry. What truly separates the best teams from the good ones, in her eyes, is the ability to work together as one cohesive unit on and off the field.
“We are a very close-knit group that works like a family and you can see that in the way we play,” McLemore said. “We have each other's backs on and off the field and that is something that you don’t see in every program.”
Ford believes the Sun Devils have the potential to make a run to the Women's College World Series with the 27 athletes on its roster for this upcoming season, the biggest it has been in years, according to Ford.
Such a large roster brings plenty of talent, including senior infielder Bella Loomis, who recorded a .322 batting average and .475 on-base percentage in her junior season.
ASU also has four seniors from last year returning for their fifth year — outfielder Kindra Hackbarth, catcher Maddi Hackbarth, designated player Allison Tatnall and pitcher Cielo Meza — who Ford calls "COVID seniors" or "super seniors."
“You don’t see players with this amount of experience on the college field very often, and their leadership and talent is already having such a big impact,” Ford said.
Kindra Hackbarth was ranked sixth in Softball America's Top 100 players and was a First Team All American last season with a .433 batting average and .795 slugging percentage. Her sister, Maddi, led the team with nine home runs and 32 RBIs last season while becoming a Third Team All American.
Meza recorded 10 wins in the circle with a 1.93 ERA last season and threw a no-hitter this past February against Seattle University. Tatnall played in 26 games last season and recorded 11 RBIs and eight doubles.
Ford acknowledges that given the size of ASU's roster, it's a benefit having those four fifth-year players return because of their experience and leadership. Kindra has especially stood out in this context for Ford.
"Kindra has done a really great job with our outfields and been able to tell them what she is thinking," Ford said. "She has really taken charge and is able to be a great teammate while also being some who has played at a very high level."
This fall may not have been the offseason the team was expecting, but the Sun Devils' returning experience places them in a strong position for 2021.
"These girls definitely aren't taking anything for granted," Ford said. "After having last season taken away from them, each day on the field means a lot to these athletes."
Reach the reporter at anvalle1@asu.edu and follow @amandaa.valle on Twitter.
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