On the first Monday of each month, softball coach Julie Wright will provide insight into her program in a blog called, "Wright or Wrong: Inside the Mind of a Coach.
Strong and confident women. That is what Jessica and I want for our girls, our team. We want them to leave us as strong, confident women. Some things have happened to the individuals on our team this year, some really hard life type things. Things that make me want to put on my “mom” hat and hug them. This time for a student-athlete can be the most amazing and the most painful moments they could ever have to deal with in their whole life.
This is the time they learn the most about themselves as people, what they are capable of, and sometimes, what they are not capable of. Through all of their success and failures, however, Jessica and I always try to show them that they can handle anything and everything. That if you just handle each moment, just one moment at a time, life doesn't seem so overwhelming… take a deep breath, slow it down, and work through it little by little. We try to teach them this lesson daily through their experiences as student-athletes both on and off the field.
The seniors were tested on their strength and confidence as they took the field in their last home series of their careers. If you have never been there, standing at that fork in the road wondering where and what you will do next is a scary and thrilling place to be. For so many years, your life is regimented by practices, study halls, team events, road trips, and workouts. It is the student-athlete crazy routine. Work hard, study hard, play hard, and when there is time – have fun hard. This is the life for nearly 365 days a year.
As I watched our seniors perform this weekend, I was so proud of both their strength and their confidence. Haylee, our volleyball player, turned softball player for just this semester, hit back to back-to-back home runs in batting practice on Sunday. Considering she hadn't swung a bat for 6 years prior to January, well, that is pretty darn amazing. As she walked away from that round, one of her teammates asked her “How many?” to which Haylee simply replied “22.” and walked off to shag. When I asked for an explanation, she grinned and told me she had set a goal for hitting 25 home runs in batting practice. I grinned back at her – how could I not LOVE that?
In our last 8 conference games, our other 4 seniors have been stellar. Kandis has gone 5-0 and has been an absolute leader on the mound. Brittany has hit nearly .300, stolen some bases, and has played incredible defense making diving catches and throwing out a runner at 3B yesterday in a big situation. Baca has hit .360 with a monster home run and has played amazing defense at short stop. She is doing things I didn't know her tired old legs could do! Then there is Erin… she is hitting a whopping .450 with a home run, a .556 on base percentage, and she, too, is playing great defense. Talk about strong and confident!
These seniors could have folded. We started conference play 0-8. 0-4 against Northern Colorado and we were horrible. Then another 0-4 against Portland State, but we were better. We fought harder, we tested the water on “selling out” and that planted a seed for the Weber series. We were good that weekend, winning 3 of 4, but we were even better this past weekend vs. Seattle also winning 3 of 4. Since you know I am a stat-driven coach, let me give you a few statistics on the last 8 conference games. In eight games we have scored 62 runs with 80 hits and 33 of those hits were for extra bases including 11 home runs.
At one point this weekend Jessica and I looked at each other (I am sure it was after
Courtney Dial's 3rd home run of the day) and just said “Wow.” I mean
Terah Blackwell is hitting .593 over these games slugging over 1.000 with 4 home runs. Jessica and I are just hoping she doesn't wake up from this thrilling madness!
So, are we playing the game strong and confident? Yes, we are definitely doing that as a whole and the seniors are right where they should be – leading the charge. So to honor them once more, I want all of you to know how very proud I am of who they are, who they are becoming, and what they have achieved. They are truly on the path of strength and confidence.
Until next time…
- Julie
Past Blogs
April 4, 2011
March 7, 2011
Feb. 7, 2011
Jan. 3, 2011
Dec. 21, 2010
2011 Idaho State Softball Roster
1
Jennifer Martensen IF
2
Ashley Moeller IF
4
Brittany Olsin OF/C
5
Jessica Baca IF
6
Erin Olander IF/OF
9
Katee Wiley IF
10
Amanda Fitzsimmons P/IF
11
Haylee Thompson-Brock OF
12
Katie Rooks OF
15
Christina Rayner P
17
Courtney Darby IF/P
18
Terah Blackwell C
19
Kandis Clesson P
22
Courtney Hancock IF/UT
23
Courtney Dial OF
32
Desirae Hoffman OF
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