Speaker 1 00:00:11 Hello and welcome to the roundhouse podcast. This is Paul Solon, tropical Wichita state university, strategic communications. Thank you for listening today. We have Wichita state assistant softball, coach Pressley, bell Presley, a former graduate manager and graduate assistant at Wichita state. She became the pitching coach in June. Presley is from Liberty, Texas, which is near Houston, right? Yes. She pitched at the university of Houston. She was a second team, all conference pitcher in 2019, and a two time conference scholar athlete. I was very proud of that. Good, good. That's good stuff. So Presley is going to wrap up false softball for us. The shockers wrapped up their practices in late November. Uh, so Presley, let's start kind of with a big picture view. You've now been here for two plus years, so you've got some, maybe some fresh eyes on this. Give us your perspective on what has made this softball program successful.
Speaker 2 00:01:08 Um, I think just the way our girls come together and play for each other has been, what's brought us success in the past. Um, obviously that doesn't come right away. We've had to work through some things they've had to learn to like each other, you know, on and off the field, which takes time for every team that's not unusual. Um, but the way that they played behind each other, they played for each other. That's really, what's brought us success on the field and that's what made us so successful last year, last year was our best season by far, and it all had to do with our team chemistry. Um, we watched Ted lasso as a team that January was really, you know, brought a new perspective for us in the girls and really helped build that team chemistry that was able to make us perform so well on the field. Desperate.
Speaker 1 00:01:48 So is there something in particular from Ted lasso that you think was helpful?
Speaker 2 00:01:52 I mean the way he, his outlook on life, he's so positive, no matter what happens to him, whether it's his personal life or his new job with a professional soccer team, um, the way that they treat their manager on the team, you know, just understanding that everyone has a role everyone's important, no matter who you are or what that role is, you know, you are important to the team and vital to their success. And I think really watching that and seeing how that played out within the show really opened up our eyes as our, as our team and as a staff and really helped propel us during our spring season
Speaker 1 00:02:22 Wichita state connection with Ted lasso fictionally, a former Wichita state football coach. Is that what got you the softball program onto Ted lasso or was it,
Speaker 2 00:02:33 I think it was just good to be watched it on apple TV and was like, this is great. And just, it, there was a lot of good messages throughout the show, which there really is, and that's kind of what we wanted her to like, make us watch that show as a team.
Speaker 1 00:02:47 Interesting. You use the phrase, learn to like each other, and that comes up a lot. Uh, I heard that a lot during volleyball season, uh, that, that, you know, the shocker volleyball players would talk a lot about the chemistry and how much they enjoyed being around each other. So has a coach, what is your role in fostering that admin?
Speaker 2 00:03:04 Yeah, I mean, I think it's just really understanding that everyone's here for a reason. Everyone is their own person than their own individual. And it's creating a culture and an atmosphere that welcomes each of those individuals, no matter how you are, who you are, making sure that we create an environment that you're able to express yourself and be your truthful unapologetic self, you know, just understand that every single day, yes, the person to your leverage, your rate's going to be different, but we're going to accept them because that, they're a part of what makes us who we are. So really understanding that, creating that environment and making everyone feel welcomed and safe, plays a huge part in that team chemistry. So,
Speaker 1 00:03:44 So you kind of jumped into the pitching coach position last spring. So this would be your first fall, I guess, kind of full-time in charge of pitching the pitchers at Wichita state. So how's it different preparing for the spring now that you've got a full, I guess, a full runway to get ready? What's different for you?
Speaker 2 00:04:03 I mean, the only really differences just instead of working more mechanically and breaking everything down into soul touch on that, but now we're really focusing on hitting spots and understanding, you know, how to get hitters out, not having to make the perfect pitch, but making, hitting the perfect spot so that they get themselves out. If that makes sense. So really just focusing on the game mentality side of it and understanding, you know, how to hit a spot in this certain count and how to work effectively so that we're able to be more successful in the mound and not have to play towards the hitter, but they have to play it towards us.
Speaker 1 00:04:34 You may have just done it, but I was going to ask you to describe your philosophy of coaching pitchers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:39 So I do like to work mechanically. I, I believe that if you have a strong foundation, everything works a little bit better. Um, so I like to really work on that in the fall and really hone in on their mechanics, understand that they feel what happens when a Pitchfork's right. But then once we get into the spring really understanding that it's all about hitting spots, you know, what can I do to hit a good spot? What can I do to hit this spot in this count to make sure that I'm not leaving in a plate? You know, I'm hitting the black of the play a little bit off to where they're getting a roll of grandma, they're popping it up and stuff like that. So really trying to work with the pitchers and their minds, so that on the mound, they see what I see and they're understanding where this pitch needs to be in this certain situation. So kind of building their mindset part of it, too.
Speaker 1 00:05:20 What coaches mentors have you kind of borrowed and built your coaching philosophy?
Speaker 2 00:05:25 My pitching coach at the university of Houston. So I'm begging gives him off and she was phenomenal. I absolutely loved her. Um, the way that she coached me and talked to me and the workouts and everything that she would give me, um, have helped tremendously. I reached out to her over the summer and really got to talk to her a little bit now that I was transitioning into a full-time coach. So she's been awesome. She's always in my corner. She's one of my biggest fans and she's what made pitching in Houston. So enjoyable. So she's really been there and helped me a lot.
Speaker 1 00:05:50 So you are close in age with a lot of the people you are coaching. How do you make that work as a positive? I,
Speaker 2 00:05:57 I am posting. So I'm able to relate to them in a lot of ways. You know, I understand the trends that are going around the lingo and stuff like that. So I'm able to talk to the girls, but they also understand that there is a respect thing about it, so I can talk to them, but they also know that I can give them instruction or like a little bit of correction on something and they'll listen to me and respect it, or they can also come to me. And maybe it's easier for them to talk to me about something then the other coaches. So it's a nice little barrier for me to coach B or coachee that the girls have. And I like to keep it fun. I like to play around with the girls, I joke around with them, but we also know that when the time is to be serious and when, whenever we need to get after it and get our business done. So,
Speaker 1 00:06:37 Okay. So false softball, Wichita state was coming off a fabulously successful spring. Uh, what were the goals? What did you want to get accomplished in the fall?
Speaker 2 00:06:47 Well, so I have three young pitchers. I have two super seniors, Erin and Kate, and then they have three freshmen Jordans or red shirt freshmen. So really it's me learning my three new girls. You know, I know Kate and Aaron pretty well. They've been through this, this isn't their first rodeo. So I really just want to kind of keep working with them, you know, to progress and perfect their skills already. But I was really just trying to learn my new freshmen and truly, really get a new look and open my eyes to see what they have, what I can work with, what we need to work on that way. There'll be ready for the spring. Um, I thought coaching was a good highlight this fall. I thought we did pretty well. So it was really just about learning them, them learning me. And that's just kind of building that relationship to move forward.
Speaker 1 00:07:29 Let's run through those pitchers. Uh, you have two returners, you mentioned Katelyn Bingham, Aaron McDonald, and then Jordan Pipkin who registered last spring and then the newcomers, Alison Cooper and Kenzie shoppers chauffeur. Uh, yeah. Give us a quick rundown on the fall and what role they're kind of aiming for in the spring.
Speaker 2 00:07:48 Um, so this fall, we obviously tried to just split everyone up with playing time, just get everyone, some innings in and stuff like that. Um, we have five, which is good. Um, nowadays the softball, it's hard to rely on just one person. So having a staff will be really beneficial for us. Um, I mean they all want to pitch. They all want to get after it. They all want to be considered a starter at some point, which is great because that means they want to compete. They want to be in the circle. They want to have the ball. Um, so it's really just understanding and then getting them to understand their strengths and what they would be most useful in because so I have Allie, who's a lefty, you know, there was a little bit slower, has a ton of pitches, a lot of tools she'll be wanting to really break up the line of force.
Speaker 2 00:08:27 So if we come from Aaron to Allie, to Jordan who throws pretty hard, that I really messed up a lineup. So there's little things like that the lawyer would use to our advantage. That's going to take all of our pictures. Kinsey has some great tools. She's able to get everyone to pop out. It seems like, um, Jordan throws hard. Like I said, when she really hones in and focuses on it, she's going to be pretty deadly. Um, Aaron's great. She has really perfected her skills and she really understands where her pitches need to go. Caitlin's going to get you to roll over till you die, you know, throw a low in the zone and her changeup's awesome. So I think they're all going to be able to help us in some sort of way. It's just us learning which piece to put where, and then going from there.
Speaker 1 00:09:07 So it seems like there's been a gradual shift from, in softball, from, you know, one dominant pitcher, two dominant pitchers that through basically every name to more of this kind of bullpen and mixing and matching. Take us through a little bit of that. How, you know, what's the timetable, how has that kind of evolved and why?
Speaker 2 00:09:25 Well, if you look at it, I mean, our hitters nowadays are so good and the bats are so hot. Um, it's hard for a pitcher to beat a team three times. You think about playing conferences the best out of three. And if you're seeing that same picture for three times in a row, you know, eventually you're gonna catch up to them. And then nowadays technology plays such a huge partner game. I mean, you can watch film on film, on film, on whoever you're going to play by the time that you get there on Friday nights. And you've already seen her three times. Um, I know we use film heavily here. We'll prep coach. He does a great job prepping our hitters for pitchers. That by the time that we played them Friday night, it's like, they've already had six at bats off. You know, they pretty much know what to expect. So I think hindsight over the years with that growing in with our hitters is getting so much better. It's not really a pitcher's game anymore. So you find a lot of teams really rely on a bullpen on a staff other than just that one sole pitcher. So,
Speaker 1 00:10:19 So last season Wichita state won the regular season conference title one, the tournament title went to the NCAA regional, uh, defeated Texas a and M twice. How often do you talk about that in the fall?
Speaker 2 00:10:29 Um, not a lot. We, I mean, obviously, I mean, it's obvious people, I think it's just until now it's finally died down that people are like, man, if only you had got sent to Ohio and we're like, yeah, we know, like that was the one thing, but, um, we really didn't bring it up a whole lot. I mean, the girls understand that we lost a lot of key players last season and that there's big spots to fill, but I think a lot of the girls, not really the girls, but there's doubt that we won't be as good as we were last year. Um, so it's really up to the girls and he will be as good as they want to be. You know, they understand who we lost, they understand how much work they put in and how much work it actually takes to be the good at, to be this good at the next level. So I think the girls knowing that, and not really having a chip on their shoulder, but a little bit, you know, understand that they got to get after it. And they're ready to prove that, you know, be still, can't be that good. Even though we lost that our players from last year,
Speaker 1 00:11:21 One of those people you've lost was Madison Paragon. She was kind of the latest in a long line of really strong catchers that would show state has had over the last, whatever, eight or 10 years. So you're breaking in a new catcher. How does that affect your job and how the pitching staff goes about its work?
Speaker 2 00:11:37 Yeah. Um, we have two catchers Laney and Jess. Um, they do a great job catching bullpens every week. Um, I think the pictures have kind of tailored towards who they liked throwing to a little bit more, which works cause we have to, and the fall they caught 50, 50. You always split time between, um, pretty, um, so they're still learning each other. We'll start learning them. We're trying to get them, you know, to understand how to move behind the plate, you know, how to, um, frame certain pitches and stuff like that to get us more strikes. So we're all just learning. We're all just working together still. So I think when we come back in January, we'll be able to get after a little bit more in that aspect and we'll be ready to go for the,
Speaker 1 00:12:12 So if you're a shocker fan, uh, and you're starting to think about the spring, hit them with a couple of newcomers who maybe made a big impression on you over the, or the fall.
Speaker 2 00:12:22 Okay. Let's see here. Well, so I think Lauren, Luke is, even though she was here last year, she's made great strides. This, this fall so far. I think her playing in the Florida league last summer really helped her a lot. I'm really excited to see what she does for us. Her offense is really getting there. So now we gotta get her defense there and she'll be great to see
Speaker 1 00:12:40 She does. She plays
Speaker 2 00:12:41 Now. I feel like, yes, it's from the left side. Um, I'm excited to see how my freshmen pitchers do, um, is their first time they got a little bit of a taste of it. When we played Oklahoma state in the fall, I thought they did great. So I'm really excited to see how they do. Um, we have some corners, we got, um, Kirsten or Kristin Nelson. She's at third. She'll be able to play for us. They're not new, but they're new to us, Ariel and Zoe. So I'll be excited to see how they fill it first Lindell and field. So there's a lot of new faces that maybe there are new this year, but there'll be new to the field. So I'm kind of excited to see how they all do collectively together.
Speaker 1 00:13:18 So let's go to the Christmas questions. You have dogs, Bonnie and Clyde. What kind of dogs are they? Are? They
Speaker 2 00:13:23 Are blue, moral border collies.
Speaker 1 00:13:24 Wow. Blue murder.
Speaker 2 00:13:26 Yeah. Other further patterns, about three colors on a mess, the blue Merle part, but they're still border collies. Everyone like sticks them for Australian shepherds, but they're pretty similar, but they're word colleagues.
Speaker 1 00:13:36 Will you buy them Christmas presents?
Speaker 2 00:13:38 Well, so they actually got started with getting vanilla wafers before bed, but they haven't had them in a long time. So I think I'll buy them a box of vanilla wafers and they can unwrap those. We always buy them bones and we wrap them and they unwrap them. So it'll be a good time. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:13:51 Favorite Christmas song?
Speaker 2 00:13:53 I don't know if I have a favorite Christmas song. I don't know. Christmas music is just happy all together. So I think just the vibe of Christmas music is a favorite. I don't have a particular link.
Speaker 1 00:14:07 There's been a big argument in our office when you can start playing Christmas music start decorating. Are you disciplined? Waiting until after Thanksgiving?
Speaker 2 00:14:16 Yeah. That's pretty much the day right after Thanksgiving, but I do let myself wait until Thanksgiving happens.
Speaker 1 00:14:21 All right. Well, you are a right, right thinking American on that, on that issue. I fully support that. Favorite Christmas food.
Speaker 2 00:14:27 Oh, geez. Um, well my family, we pretty much eat the same lineup as we did for Thanksgiving when it comes to food. Um, so you get your Turkey, your dressing, um, rolls. I love rolls. Who doesn't love bread. I think it just comes down to the dessert because the dessert differs from Thanksgiving to Christmas. So all the dessert that we make would probably be my, you have a favorite Christmas cookie, Kate, something like that. Um, so my family, we make this thing called cornflake crunch, which I've applied in my favorite as peanut butter and coconut flakes, corn flakes, and a whole lot of sugar. So that's, I'd be my favorite. Um, but yeah, that sounds really good. No, it's delightful. Thank you.
Speaker 3 00:15:28 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university, strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google play. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected]. Thank you for listening
Speaker 4 00:15:49 And they let him pass it up court. And then it gets picked off a long three by PENGOS. No good. One second. It's over. It is over. And once your task has beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16 go crazy Wichita.
