[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications.
Thanks for listening. Our guests today are former Shocker softball players Sidney McKinney and CC Wong. Sydney played shortstop for the Shockers from 2019 to 2023. She hit the softball quite.
Cece Wong played infield for the Shockers in 2024. She did the same. Also hit a lot of softballs as a Shocker. I'm not going to go into all their all their honors because that would take a really long time. They are both now graduate assistants with the Shockers.
Wichita State is practicing in advance of opening the season on February 6th in Texas. Former Shocker outfielder Lauren Lucas is also a ga. She's playing professional softball in Mexico right now. Sydney will play in Japan later this spring. She returns to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League with the Oklahom City Spark. In the summer, Cece plays for Team Canada.
Let's start by telling people what a graduate assistant does at Wilkins Stadium. Cece, run through your job description.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Okay, so kind of our day starts off lately. The past couple weeks of just bullpen catching. So we'll help out our bullpen catchers because they aren't here for classes yet. And we'll help our pitchers out by just catching.
Courtney Elkins is her wife just had a baby so she's been out for a couple weeks now. So we've just been helping out Coach B in the pitchers while they're off.
So excited to see little Benjamin.
So basically we'll help open catch. If we see something with the pitchers, we'll try and let them know from a hitter's perspective what they need help with. Not from a pitchers.
We'll go in, do that. Basically just hang out until practice starts. We'll help Coach E set up hitting cause she has so many ideas and she needs help with those ideas.
So we help pick up with her, clean up all that stuff. Then we'll start practice and then we'll be done. We'll talk for a little bit after practice, talk about maybe what's next to come for tomorrow and then we'll head home.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Sydney, how about you? What do you do around Wilkins Stadium?
[00:02:20] Speaker C: Similar to what Cece just said. I feel like we're besties through this. We do everything together. So it's fun being able to, like she said, help the pitchers from a hitter's perspective.
I was telling, I think maybe it was gabby fix the other day. I can see what's happening but I don't know how to fix it. So then she turns to Coach B, or she can. She can call Coach Court and ask them the questions. But I think it's been good for them to have us in there, especially with counts and stuff, just to let them know what we would be hunting for and what's gonna work for them.
But like she said, we practice plan.
Coach C does a great job with the hitters. I have always loved the way that she teaches different types of learners.
So we're always setting up different cages, different ideas, different scouts, whatever that might be, to help her out.
And then we usually practice plan defense with Coach B. She also has a lot of great ideas, but I feel like we've gone back to a lot of the things that we did when the teams that I was on were successful. So I've really enjoyed watching the girls get to do all the fun games, all the life situations at the end that happened when I was in college.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: So a lot of times when I do these stories or interviews with athletes who have moved into coaching as a ga, they will almost always say, boy, I didn't realize all the things those coaches did. Have you hit that point? And what are some things that you've learned about the job of a coach that maybe you didn't realize as an athlete?
[00:03:48] Speaker B: I feel like from the coaching and softball perspective, the coaches are very honest about what they do. So, like, that part I wasn't really necessarily surprised about. I think it was like, the back half of it, where it's like, all the recruiting, all the things they have to go to, the meetings, like, the paperwork, like, that's the stuff that surprised me. It's like, okay, they're not just softball coaches. They're also employees of the university, and they have to do things outside of softball. And having to do both of those things is pretty intense.
But they all do a really good job of cohesively doing it all together. And Tyra Berger does a great job of helping us out and just, like, getting through the business side of it because she's super smart on that end and just working us through it. So it's pretty awesome. We work kind of all as a cohesive unit, and I think that's what makes Wichita State special. And so, yes, it's a lot on that coaching side, but I think they do a very good job of finishing all they need to do that day, understanding that, like, okay, I got my paperwork, but, like, softball also is starting right now, and then I'll finish, after which it's a lot of time. And we try as gas to Help as much as possible. If we can be like, take. We will take anything you need.
And they'll be like, no, no, it's okay. Like, we've got it. Because they've been doing it for years now, and they're basically pros at it, but we just want to make sure that they have as less possible on their hands. But they're awesome at that.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: So I think Cece has shouted out everyone in the softball operation. So good work, Sydney. Your perspective will be different. You coached as assistant at Marshall for a couple years, so you were prepared for this. What have you learned about coaching, you know, over your entire tenure? Out of out the game, out of the game as a college player?
[00:05:32] Speaker C: I feel like when I dove into coaching right out of college while still playing professionally, I did not realize all the responsibilities that coaches had. I know that I knew going in that I'm really good at coaching. I can relate to the girls. I was similar age. I'm still in the game, but like Cece said, it's all the office work stuff that was, like, hard for me to catch on to, and it took a little bit. You don't just show up, set up for practice. Practice and go home. So it's cool to see all the work that goes in that was hard going from graduating straight into coaching.
But I would say just the time that goes into it is crazy. And I really commend all the great coaches because, I mean, you have to figure out how to balance work and life. And they all have kids and they do such a great job, still making time for the families and going to gymnastics and going to practice and going to basketball and going to soccer after the long workday that we had. And me and Cece, we're single and we live with our friends and we feel so tired. So it's insane to me how they can balance everything and still just be great people and great coaches.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Let's go back to the relating to athletes. I always think it's interesting because you two were super talented, hard workers, all that kind of stuff. So how do you relate to a freshman who maybe isn't quite as athletically gifted and maybe hasn't figured out the work ethic part of it.
You can't just say, do it like I did back in 2021, because maybe they're not capable or that's not their background. How do you. How do you work with those kind of kids, Cece?
[00:07:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you really just try and pull from your own experience. Like, I started as a freshman and I had had a lot of talkings too with my coach about me getting my work ethic better. I didn't come into Wichita State practicing like extra a lot. I came in as a freshman at my JUCO and it was hard and it was something that I had to learn through. So kind of just pulling from my experience, maybe pulling from my friend's experience that has explained things to me and what they went through. And I try and let those freshmen know, like, it's okay to make mistakes. Like it honestly is 100% okay to make those mistakes.
And I won't go through all the conversations we've had. But like, I think the best thing isn't expecting much of them because we've all been there. I think it's just understanding that they're just humans going through life and we gotta help them, like, be like, okay, like, I have been there maybe six years ago now, but like, I understand what it's like to feel this way. And I'm not like putting this in a negative light, but can we do this better? Because when you do this, this becomes the thing you are now.
So it's super cool to have those things. And I think our players are really receptive of that information. I think they know that we've been through it and we're still doing still new on teams. Sid's new to the Oklahoma City Spark this year. She's gonna have to learn to adjust to new girls and all that stuff. And with Team Canada, I've had to adjust to learning with new girls who were older than me.
Freshmen are working with seniors and we're maybe working with 30 year olds. And so it's interesting to work those dynamics just similar to we're the newbies and these are the older people. So we're trying to explain to them that it doesn't just end there.
You always have to learn and readjust to everything you do in life.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: So, Sydney, that's just a huge part of coaching. Getting the most out of different personalities. How do you kind of approach somebody early steps of a relationship?
[00:09:02] Speaker C: One of the things that coachee has said to me that has stuck out coaching wise since I've been back as a GA and even when I was at Marshall and she was kind of giving me advice is the fact that we might be getting older and we have all this softball experiment, experiment, experience and we've traveled the world and we've done it. But every time you're coaching in college, you're still working with 18 to 23 year olds. They're always going to be that age. So how can we get to the point where they're mature enough to make their own good decisions, to have good work ethic, and to play their best softball? And I feel like dealing with different personality types for me has become easier just because I've played with so many different people, and now I've started to work with different people. But just having an open mind when it comes in, when you come in to working with this age of women is really important because sometimes you get to college like me, and you don't know what the heck you're doing. I was not the model student athlete when I got here. I didn't get into trouble, but I wasn't doing the right things. I had to have those people, upperclassmen and my coaches and my mentors teach me how to do these things because you just don't know. And you can't judge somebody for not having experiences that you do.
So I feel lucky that I had those people. But I just try to approach it kind of like a big sister when we're going through this, because like cece said, we've been through it and we've made mistakes too, but the people around us help us learn.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: You mentioned learning how different athletes learn learning styles, which is something I hear a lot when I'm over there at Wilkins Stadium. Cece, what have you learned about how approaching people from that standpoint, how do you figure out how best to teach them?
[00:10:46] Speaker B: I think you got to get to know them as people first. I think you have to make sure you're asking the question so it's like you can understand their responses to things, right? Like, you ask certain questions they may not understand. Okay, let's go to the next thing.
People are visual learners. People are learners who want to see it on paper. People can just hear words and understand.
There's so many different types of learning styles. And I started to learn that with my education because I did do certain classes that taught me those learning styles.
And then I go to softball, and it's the exact same thing.
I think just you really have to, like, understand that you may not even get what they're trying to do. And like, as a good coach and as a good ga, like, you're basically like, listen, like, I'll teach you things, I'll try and tell you things, I'll try and tell you cues.
But if it doesn't work for you, throw it out the way, like, throw it into the trash and we'll try something new. Like, we have to be very.
Like, we have to be ready to adjust at any time, just as they need to be adjusted anytime we're learning them and they're learning how Wichita State softball works.
I think coachee. We always go back to coachee, right? Like, she taught me it. At first, I didn't really understand that I had a specific learning style. I kind of just, like, did what coach said, and I came in here, and coach, he's just like, you take what you need from this. So, like, when we're talking about scout, you take what you need from this, and then you go and play your best softball. If she were to be like, no, you need to learn the percentages of this stuff. You need to learn this, this, this, this. I don't think I would have been as good as a softball player as I was here, because she was able to let me grow into the learner and the player that I was, because she understood that everyone needs different coaching. And then she'd go to Caroline Talent, who was an engineer student, and she's like, the percentages are this. And this number is this and 50% change up. And I'm sitting here, and I'm like, I'll block it out. I have to block this out. Because those numbers.
[00:12:48] Speaker C: See ball, hit, ball, right?
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Like, give me the heat chart about where the red is and where that pitcher is going to pitch it the most. And I'm a, okay.
But, yeah, it's just all about that. And it's letting those girls know that it's okay to not understand what your other teammate is learning from. Because someone's like, well, this person's getting it this way. Who cares? Like, at the end of the day, like, if you're gonna learn it a certain way, we gotta teach it to you that way and continue to do it and not expect you to ever understand this. But if you want to learn the other way of learning, okay. But if it's not gonna work for you, don't do it.
And I think good coaches know that.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Sydney, all the coaching experience you have had, how has that changed how you view softball? Or how has it helped you as a. As a player?
[00:13:38] Speaker C: That's a good question. I feel like it has helped my preparation, and it's helped me put myself back into their shoes.
There's a lot of hitters, when I'm working with them and they're making adjustments, I'm like. I look at their swing, and I can see myself swinging that way. And so maybe if I'm having a hard time hitting A drop ball a certain day, I can think to cues that I told the girls or cues that Coach E and CeCe told the girls. And think of the drills that we did.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: And.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: And I can apply that to my own swing. So I think that's been pretty fun. And like cece said, we're always changing teams or always going to different countries. We're always, like, learning on the fly. And I feel like being around them and this being a new place for a lot of the girls helps me relate to them more and helps when I'm in Japan or in Taiwan and I'm feeling out of place. And I can relate to them at that aspect because I've seen how they persevere and get through it, so I know that I can do the same.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: So we've mentioned ideas from Christy Breadbenter. Head coach Elizabeth Economan works with the hitters a lot, doing drills, things like that. Have you reached a point where you can say, maybe we should do something different? I did this for team Canada or something? Have you reached the point where you can have a discussion about a drill or a direction with those two?
[00:15:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:15:01] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, they're so open to learning as much as we are, and that's been my favorite part. Coaching with them is that what they have taught us has worked, and it continues to work, but that doesn't mean that they're done learning. And I think there's some coaches that, like, have their set ways, and this is my way or the highway. And so I feel like coming in gaing. Like, I have a really good relationship with the two, but I was unsure of, like, what that dynamic would look like because I'm a grad assistant, I'm not a coach. But they're so willing to try things that we want to try and to learn from different coaches and to learn from different players, and I think that's really cool about them.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Yeah, we just came back from Denver this weekend to go to the CSC hitting lab, and instantly, like, there's so many different types of technology there, and instantly when we came back, coaching coach were like, what did you learn? What did you get from this? Should we go there? Like, all that stuff? Like, they were like, what is this? What is that? Like, every time we come back from somewhere, they're like, what did you learn? Like, what is your head coach doing? What is this? Like, did you do something different? And, like, it's super cool. And it's like, oh, yeah, we did do this. Like, hey, like, this was a really Cool idea that, like, I don't think we've done yet. And they're like, okay, cool. And does it stick? Like, maybe. Does it not? Doesn't maybe not? Like. But they're so open to, like, everyone's ideas, and it's really cool.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, Sydney, because I would think my understanding is the technology over there at Wilkins Stadium has increased a lot even from when you started in 2019, 2020. Take people through that. What's available now and how has that changed over the recent years?
[00:16:40] Speaker C: We have an insane amount of technology at Wilkins now. In my time, we had rapsodo, which kind of tracks ball flight, but it's more for the pitchers.
We watched a live synergy film, but other than that, we didn't have a whole lot. I was just kind of working with what we had, and we were really, really good at that.
Now the girls have hit tracks and trackman and aware, and they can instantly watch their swings after practice. They can watch the whole practice if we give them access to it. But we still have synergy and we have.
What else do we have, CeCe?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: True media.
[00:17:24] Speaker C: True Media that helps with scouting. So there's just so much information and so much technology at their fingertips now, which I think is really cool because the sport is really advancing so much. And the fact that we here in Wichita have access to all that is super important for the success of this program continuing.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: So, cc, you've played the last two summers for Team Canada.
Describe that process and what it's like being a member of Team Canada.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: It's awesome. It's such.
Team Canada is a really cool experience for me. I've grown up wanting to play for Team Canada, and that was my dream, to play for Team Canada. So getting the opportunity and after a good season here at wichita State in 24, to be able to play for them was such a huge honor.
It's taken me places that I would have never gone to in my life. It took me in 24 to Italy last year. I went to China and played in the World Games.
It's super cool. And some of these girls I've looked up to my whole entire life, they've played on the Team Canada. They're veterans. Like, they're super, super awesome people.
And to call them my teammates was pretty surreal for me.
And getting to learn from the best. Our head coach, Coach Rafter, is one of the assistants at Florida State, and they're a very good softball program. So to learn from some of the best and for her to help me is so awesome. And our pitching coach, Christian Conrad, his name is also cece or CC Squared. He is the pitching coach at Arizona. And so to have our defensive coach, Coach Jones is at Stetson. So, like, it's just such a cool opportunity to have a bunch of people working to make us better. Are we the most talented group of girls in the world? No. But what makes us good is our culture.
This team, that team does such a good job of having a really good backbone to have when maybe our softball skills aren't compared to Team USA Team Japan, but we were able to beat Team Japan because we have each other's backs through and through. So we weren't the most talented, but we wanted it more in that game. And we looked at each other like Morgan Reimer, who's at Washington pitching right now, she beat Team Japan pitching, and she turned to me in the seventh inning because she got taken out. We put Morgan Rackle in, and she was like, cece, I think I'm gonna need to hold your hand right now. And I go, you do what you need to do right now, because you just won us this game.
And so it was just so nice that, like, yeah, we're only together for a few months out of the year, but we're able to call each other family. And throughout the year, we're doing training camps and texting each other and really trying to keep connected. So when it comes to selection camp, it's not like we're strangers anymore. We have done stuff throughout the year to keep us as a team and maybe we'll add new members in and stuff like that.
I just won a music competition we had, and it was basically just everyone had to choose a song, and it was through the whole camp. So it was 31 girls, and some girls I only knew for a week, so it was hard to know that.
So no their music style, but we all put in a song and we had to guess each other's song, and I ended up winning. So little things like that just throughout the year to get us still connected is super awesome. And I think not a lot of international teams do that consistently, but, like, what makes us us is being together, and no matter how far we are away, like, we're together the whole time, which is really, really cool.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: What was the song that you chose?
[00:21:05] Speaker B: Oh, it was Bossy by I can't.
Kelly Kellis. I can't remember. It's. It's a good little song.
I'm really huge on walk up songs. I love walk up songs. So I gotta have a good beat. I'm more rap when it comes to the workout, walk up songs or old school, one of the two. Or Shrek, but.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: So your goal would be to play in the Olympics. Tell people where you are in that process and what comes up next for you and Team Canada.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: So this year in 26, we'll go to selection camp in June and if I get selected to all the teams, it's really cool. We have a lot of different options of where we could end up. So Team Canada got picked to be in the World cup qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup. Our stage qualifier is in Prague, Czechia. So that'd be super cool to get the opportunity to go to Prague. I have never really been to Eastern Europe, so to be able to go there would be super cool.
And then from there we actually get the opportunity to go train in Japan.
So we'll do that. And then we'll go straight from Japan to Canada cup. And there's different roster sizes for each of these things. So For Prague it's 16. For Japan it could be 16 to 20.
So there's certain things that I could or couldn't make. Well, so we'll go to Canada Cup, I think maybe take a break there. And then I think we're going to a tournament in Oklahoma City just to be able to play there. Because in 2028 the Olympic Games will be held in Oklahoma City. So to be able to play there as much as possible would be really cool in 27. I don't know what the schedule looks like, but I do know that in 27 the World cup is in Australia. So I really hope I get the opportunity to go there. These everywhere, these cool places.
From there, I don't know what the. I think we'll have a qualifier for the Olympics in 27 and then 28 will be the Olympics. But I just don't necessarily. I think we try and go one year at a time. We know our goal is the Olympics, but we got to kind of get our points up because that's how international softball works. You got to get your points up through tournaments you play and the teams you play.
So every year is huge, no matter if it's Olympic year or not, because you want to be ranked in that top four or five every year with those points that you get through tournaments and playing other international teams.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: So Sydney, you will be back in Athletes Unlimited for the fourth year. Third year, fourth year.
[00:23:38] Speaker C: Getting old, basically.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: Senior in college.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: No, that league has really appears to have caught. Caught on very well. Why? How do you describe the popularity?
[00:23:49] Speaker C: I feel like the popularity for professional softball has been visibility.
Kim Ng, she worked in the MLB space for a long time and hit a lot of milestones for women in the MLB space. And having her kind of lead us through this has been really, really important for the growth of professional softball since even before Coach E and Coach B were playing. I know Coach E played a little bit of pro softball.
There's been leagues, but nothing has really stuck.
So I'm just hoping and I and I think that this is going to be the league that sticks.
I think that can be seen through the expansion draft this year. We're adding teams, salaries are going up.
People are starting to transition to playing softball year round as their full time job and I think that's really cool.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: And you'll be with the Oklahoma City Spark this summer, not playing in Wichita this summer. I think USL had been here the previous two summers. Right. Wilkins Stadium. Okay. So if you want to watch pro softball, you can go to Oklahoma City. And then there are several sites in Texas, if I'm seeing that correctly.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: Yes. I believe the locations this year are.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: This is my four. I should have been prepared.
[00:25:03] Speaker C: No, you're good.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: I didn't go that deep. But yes, I think it's Portland, Round.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: Rock, Chicago, okc, Utah, Salt Lake City, Durham, North Carolina.
I think that's it.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Good work. I'll fact check you in the show notes, but I think you're on. Okay. You mentioned professional league sticking. You mentioned salaries and I'm glad you brought that up. I had Morgan Stout, great volleyball player here. She was on the podcast last fall. She's playing pro volleyball.
We talked about the salaries. Their salaries are in the pro, pro Volleyball league or on the website. She thought it was really important. You know, you need to be serious and you need to pay people a reasonable wage. So you can find the same information about AUSL on their website. It says athletes can make $40,000 with opportunities to make more. So Morgan's view was this is important. This is good. We need to pay people competitive salaries. What's your view on paying those kind of salaries? What does that say about the health of the sport and the future of the sport?
[00:26:07] Speaker C: I think it's so important to pay women what they deserve to be paid.
I know that we juggle a lot as GA's and professional athletes, but there's so many other people that are coaching full time or teaching or just doing odd jobs part time.
So it's like you can't start your full career, but you still want to play.
So it's just hard to juggle. If I can play full time and not have to worry about making money somewhere else, that just makes the quality of life and my athletic ability so much better because I can focus on it.
This week we did a case study on one of our an athlete in the professional league, and she works for the MLB while also juggling and coming back from injury and getting ready for the season. So our season in the AUSL is beginning of June to end of August, so it's pretty short, but you really have to hit the ground running.
But then the rest of the year, you kind of just have to go with the flow and figure out how you can train and make money.
So we're not quite there yet with the salary. Hopefully in the US we can play year round, and that can be our only jobs. But I just think it's so important that we keep going and keep pushing for more, because athletes, especially women athletes, deserve the same opportunity opportunities that men do.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: In some sports. I know you can make more. For example, in Europe or Japan as a female athlete. Is it the same? Is it similar? United States softball pays less than maybe going somewhere else, or is softball different?
[00:27:44] Speaker C: United States pays less than going to Japan.
I feel like it's similar when I went to Taiwan, maybe similar in Mexico, but the Japanese league has been established for a long time, and they're definitely ahead of us right now.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:00] Speaker A: Okay.
Salary is important. I guess we should say part of your time as ga Part of the benefit is you're able to play and train. Correct. So that helps you with your playing career, being on the coaching staff here.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: Absolutely right.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: All right, let's talk about the shockers.
You were both here in the fall, right, for in and out or here for the whole fall? Give us a description of Shocker softball. What do you like about this team? Cece, we'll let you start.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
I love this team so far. I think it's a lot of new faces. I think we all know that now. And now they're just awesome people. I think we talked yesterday, we had a little talk with them yesterday, and I told them, like, I love each and every single one of them. They're such great people individually, and I want them to be an even better team.
I think they come in and they do their work, which is super awesome. Like, every day I'm seeing at least four or five different people or the same people, like, coming in and working extra, coming in on the Weekends.
I think that's a super good start to what we may, like, do this season. Just because I think when you're working hard and you're working extra over practice, I think good things happen. I believe in karma, so that's good karma, right?
All the transfers this year are super cool. And I think I have a little soft spot always for transfers, because we were them just as. Not just as. Not as people, but just as they're coming into something new. But I think everyone is. Now the freshmen are. There's only six or seven returners, and only one of those was an upperclassman.
So they're learning everything on the go right now. Everything that Shocker softball is, they're learning on the go. I think they're doing a great job of observing everything.
I think there's a couple girls that had really great falls, and I'm excited to do.
Decided to see what they do in the spring. I think there's girls that haven't developed yet, and I'm excited to see what they do in spring because they've continued to develop from fall, and they're getting better and better every single day.
It's their great personalities, great people to be around. I think they know how to have fun.
When we're doing yesterday, when we were doing hitting practice, they were singing and they were dancing and they were having fun. And that's what we want them when they're in the batter's box, to focus and pay attention. But when they're outside, I want them to have fun. I think that's the point of loving the game you're playing, is to be able to sing and be able to dance. And I hope that we create an environment that they continue to do that.
So it's super awesome in that way. But, yeah.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Sydney, what stands out to you about this team?
[00:30:41] Speaker C: I think a lot of the things that Cece said stand out to me.
The biggest thing this is just a really fresh look. I mean, you look at all the transfers, you look at all the freshmen.
It's been really cool to see what they're making their team look like and what they want Shocker softball to look like. Because for a long time, we had me and Cece and Addie and Wiley and Bailey and Riley, like, all the people that we played together for so long, that we kept the same traditions, and now this is whatever they want to make it. And so I feel like that's where the big sister in us has come in. We're trying to guide them in what it has looked like before, but we also just want it to be a new look and whatever they want it to be to make them successful.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Sydney hit the fans with a name or two that they should really be paying attention to this spring when they head out to Wilkins Stadium. Who's caught your eye?
[00:31:34] Speaker C: Somebody that's caught my eye is definitely Arsha Moore, transferred from North Texas. She is just a powerhouse. She's a dog. Somebody that's practicing before practice. Coming in after getting her reps in, she asks she picks me and Cece's brain a lot about things that we did to be successful in college, and she just has a really great mindset.
She hit a ball probably 306ft this fall, and so anybody wants to see a home run go that far. So I'm excited for her to see what she does, and I think she has a lot of room for growth still being so young coming in. So it'll be cool to watch her progress throughout her career.
And then another one that sticks out is Chloe Ryan. I'm a shortstop, she's a shortstop. So we connect on that level.
We get her for one year. She came from St. Louis, defensive player of the year, and she just makes some sick plays. She's a good person. She's silly. She's going to come at you with some jokes.
She just called me old the other day in a joke.
I think we connect, though, being that we're both shortstops and she's really receptive to things that I say. And same thing as Asha, always picking my brain about what made me successful. But I think she's going to make some ESPN top 10 plays this year. So I'm excited to see that Asha.
[00:32:50] Speaker A: Moore plays first base and third base. And like you, I've heard a lot of good things about her throughout the fall and early into the spring. Cece, what's your recommendation for. For fans. Someone for fans to keep an eye on.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: Well, listen, I think going back on your question before about what makes this team special is exactly what could kind of tie to this question as well.
I look at this roster and in the past rosters, Wichita State has maybe had two or three players that stand out. And when I look at this roster, I truly think that all 21 of them can have a pretty good year, which is super special.
They're all very talented. I think Sid went the defense well, more offense, a little bit of fielding route. I'm gonna shout out the pitchers in this one. I think Riley Neidhart has come back, and I don't think she's finished yet. I think she got freshman of the year and she's coming as a sophomore now and I don't think she's done and I think that's super cool. She's come in and put work. She's trying to get better and she's looking really good and I'm super excited for her.
Jade Sanders, a D2 transfer.
She is. I don't want to give too much away unless someone's listening, but she's pretty special.
I think she'll be good. She's throwing high 60s and she's got some spin and I'm super excited to see what she can do against some real opponents.
Ava Sligar is coming back. She's working on some different pitches that maybe will make her pretty special.
Jenna's coming in. She got the D1 softball kind of top 100 freshman of the year watch list. So that's super cool. She's got a different look to her. So I'm excited to see how she can match some of our pictures.
Janelle's coming in. She's such a good.
[00:34:35] Speaker C: She's.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: She's funny in her personality. She doesn't have. She doesn't. When she says things. It's pretty funny when she doesn't. She's silent but she comes in and works hard. She's one of the pictures that I see coming in and trying to get better, working on some of her pitches. She'll come in and bring catchers and work on those pitches after the weekend. I don't know if I'm missing. Oh, Gabby Fakes. She's a left handed pitcher and that girl. If you take Matty Espinoza and if Maddie Espinoza was born in Wisconsin, that's Gabby Fakes.
[00:35:07] Speaker C: Yeah. If you put sunshine. Yeah. And Rainbow Love. See picture.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: It's Gabby Fakes. She's awesome to be around. She's such a sweet personality and she's trying to get better at as well. I think this pitching staff may be something super special that maybe Wichita State has lacked in the past.
Just as a whole, we've had really good one or two pitchers, but I don't think we could say as a staff we were strong. And from what I'm seeing now, if we can continue to get better and better before February and to continue to work, I think this pitching staff will really help us go over the top.
[00:35:40] Speaker A: Let's go back and put some last names on some of those people that you mentioned. Jade Sanders, transfer from Division 2 Rogers State. You mentioned Jenna Edwards, freshman from Carrollton, Missouri. What are the other pitchers that you mentioned?
[00:35:54] Speaker B: Ava Sligard, Gabby Fakes, Janelle Wilson.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Janelle Wilson was the other one, and she is a transfer from North Carolina. Okay, Sydney, advice for a high school softball player. She's starting to think about playing college. You've been through it now. Athlete, coach, graduate, assistant. What should they be doing and what should they know about choosing a college?
[00:36:17] Speaker C: Advice that I would give somebody looking into playing in college is to find somebody in college that is similar to you, that is successful, that maybe you don't have to exactly model your game after. But it's just a good person to watch and to look up to because if you can see it, you can be it. Mine was Bianca Bell. She's a righty hitter, but she was a sick shortstop at lsu.
I have been lucky enough to meet her and be in her space, which has been really cool as I've grown up. But just being able to see that yourself and somebody else, I feel like that made me work harder getting recruited and going through that process. I think finding a school is hard when you're young. I committed when I was just turning 15, before the rules happened. So I had no clue where I wanted to go, no clue what I wanted to do.
So I would really just study the schools that you're looking at. Make sure that they line up with what you want to do. Make sure they have your major. Make sure it's as close or as far from home as you want it to be, because you're going to spend a lot of time there and that's that's your home now. So it's important to study into those.
[00:37:29] Speaker A: Places and to remind people. Sydney's from Norborne, Missouri, spent a semester at Missouri right before coming to Wichita State.
Cece, advice for a high school athlete who's kind of starting this process to remind people you went to junior college for two years, went to Grand Canyon for one season before coming to Wichita State. What's your advice for the youngsters?
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, like you said, I think my path has been a little different. But I would say, like, make sure you find the right school. I think really ask the questions and understand if they're being truthful and honest. And look at the girls. I think when you go on a visit or when you watch a game, look at how the girls react to certain things.
Look how many transfers they have in and how they have out. I know this year is different from us, but in a normal Wichita State, we really only have maybe Two transfers out a year if that transfer list gets large every year. And I know the softball world is changing and the world of sports is changing, so that may grow with transfers. But just watch how the athletes react to the coaches and athletes react to each other because I think that can really tell how programmers run inside.
They can be car salesmen when they're outside, when they were trying to recruit you and stuff like that, basically. And so I think watching the little things behind the scenes when maybe you're not there, maybe the things they don't want you to look at and you're looking, looking at them and it's like, okay, these people are going at this in a positive light or these people are looking at this in a negative light. How do they react to certain situations? I think really is a telltale sign of how a program is run.
I think don't stop emailing if you're not a very recruited athlete, like I was, don't give up. I think it could be really hard to continue to email when not a lot of people are responding back to you.
And I say, like, just keep emailing and go to camps. I never had the opportunity to go to camps in Porklam, British Columbia, Canada. It was really hard. My parents didn't have the money to fly me out to different camps to do that.
So I'd say, like, just keep emailing and trying to show your face in tournaments that you're at, try and email them your schedule, like multiple times. And I. That may be annoying to coaches. I don't think it is. I think sometimes your emails may accidentally go to junk mail and you need to keep going and keep telling them and show your face and tell them that you want to be there. And I think you need to put the work ethic to prove that you need to be there.
And then when you go into a tournament or you go and play a game, I think that really shows.
But yeah, I think honestly for me, my thing was don't give up on yourself. I was ready to quit. I was ready to be done with my recruiting and I told myself, just email one or two more people. And all of a sudden my juco emails me. Back when I was, it was one of the last jucos I was emailing and then I was gonna quit softball and go do psychology at Douglas College.
[00:40:34] Speaker C: I wanna go into the email a little bit. Coming from being coach the last two years, it's really important in your email that we know your name, we know your position, we know if you bat right handed or Left handed. We have your schedule. Where are you gonna be this summer, this fall? Because if I don't know where you're gonna be, I can't watch you.
What else is important? Oh, video wise. A lot of kids, they send the game changer video. I know that's all they have access to.
Sure. I would love to see you hit 100 home runs on film, but I really enjoy as a coach watching you do drill work. I like your front toss. I like to see you take just normal reps on defense. I, of course, we love end game because I want to see how you react and how you compete. But a lot of times that film isn't great. We want to see you close up and see what you can do.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%. I think I had to video myself growing up and I just. I just video myself on a random field and my dad was videoing and maybe I put it up on a stand on the fence. Like just do something to show yourself rep. Like it doesn't have to be pretty. Like it just has to show you. And I think that's super important. Like you don't gotta have the. All the numbers and all this stuff. Like I did a YouTube video and put that in defense and offense and that was it. And then I got recruited and it was something that took maybe an hour of my time, out of my day to maybe help me get a degree.
[00:41:58] Speaker A: So Sydney's advising people to use good professional communication skills that will pay off in softball, recruiting. And then when you have a job out in the real world. We should mention cece went to McLennan Community College and there are two current shockers from McLennan. Cece kind of started a relationship or started a pipeline there. Mackay Latoche went to McLennan and Trinity Allen went to McLennan. Shocker softball. They opened the season February 6th. They play Mississippi State and Baylor in Waco. The first Home game is March 4th versus the University of Kansas. First home American conference series starts March 13th versus UAB. CeCe and Sydney, thanks for your time.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:42:37] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: Go Shops.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] she's.
[00:43:09] Speaker C: Just one of those players who could be a game changer, though. With one swing of the bat, she can send it over the fence. We've seen her do it time and time again. Is she do with a.585 slugging percentage. Nine home runs on the season.
See what they decide.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: Swinging away in a drive to center.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: Are you kidding?
[00:43:27] Speaker A: Another walk off.
[00:43:28] Speaker B: It is ball game.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: Wichita State wins.
Two walk off home run runs today.
Bailey Lang in the first game and Lori Derico here.
And Wichita State has knocked off Central Florida five to four.
