[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. We're going to get fans ready for softball season. Wichita State softball associate head coach Elizabeth Economan is entering her 7th season with the Shockers. Wichita State went 44 and twelve last season, won the American Athletic Conference regular season title. Shockers played in an NCAA regional for a third straight season and the fourth time in the past five. Wichita State opens the 2024 season on Friday. They will be in Huntsville, Texas, to play Stephen F. Austin in the Bearcat Classic. They will also play Sam Houston in UNLV. And while it's a long way from now, I will also remind fans that the conference tournament comes to Wilkins Stadium that's starting May eigth. So, Elizabeth, the fall starts, you're replacing a lot of noticeable talent. Zoe Jones, Sydney McKinney, Lauren Mills. And then I'll throw in Lauren Lucas, the outfielder who is out with an injury.
So not just the talent. You're replacing some strong voices, some strong personalities, leadership kind of stuff. So back in the fall, how did that process of identifying those voices, the people who are going to say, don't worry, we got this or we can't loaf through this drill, even though it's at the end of a long, miserable practice, how did that go?
[00:01:33] Speaker B: It's still going. I think we've had the ability to move people around so much defensively in the fall, seeing what everybody can do. And then when you move somebody from a corner to the middle or from the middle to the outfield, their voice changes. They have to be responsible for different things. So I think we're still navigating through that while we're getting close to solidifying an opening day lineup. It's been a lot of shuffles and a lot of convincing the younger kids that it's okay to speak up. So we're getting there. We've come a long way. I think we've grown in a lot of areas, but the vocal nature, the leadership part, I think will continue to evolve as we go in and play somebody else and see what we're made of.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: I'll use Sammy Hood as an example because she's moving to shortstop, which is kind of the traditional leader. When you talk to people about Sydney McKinney last year at shortstop, people would say, yeah, if things were going well, she would tell the pitcher, don't worry about it. We'll field these balls, just do your best and we got your back. So how much pushing and guiding can you do with a young person and how much do you kind of have to let them figure it out on their own to say those kind of things?
[00:02:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we push and guide and they still do it on their own. So we want them to get there faster. Some of them get there fine, but some of them take a little while to warm know. So Sammy's really good physically, says the right things, doesn't say them all the time. It's kind of quiet at times, but to help her out. Kristen Nelson is a good voice. Cece Wong is a good voice. So they can pick it up and have a little bit more experience, a little bit more veteran leadership that they're able to fall back on. So when Sammy can't get it out or the other younger kids, sophomores, freshmen can't get it out, we've got some good voices to fall back on. So hopefully hearing those kids talking right next to them, maybe they'll pick that up a little quicker. They'll start repeating what they say and get comfortable. But I think that stuff evolves all season. I mean, you start in the fall and you preach, we got a lot of big holes to fill, a lot of big voices to fill and they start doing it and you find out who's comfortable vocally and who leads by example, and everybody's different. It takes all kinds, so you don't want to push them too far outside of their comfort zone. It might affect their physical ability if they're worried so much about I have to say this and I have to say this now and then and all that. So we do push and guide but know that it's coming when they're ready.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Kristen Nelson that you mentioned played third base last year will likely move to second this year and then C C. Wong is a newcomer to this team playing third base for the Shockers. So throughout the fall we heard a lot about different type of offense that we might see this spring from the shockers. A little less power, more speed, some bunning, manufacturing runs, that kind of stuff. How did that prognosis change throughout the fall? And now as we're just a few days away from the opener, I think.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: We'Ll be a good mix of everything. I think we came in, we're young as far as age, but we're also young with some experience. Some of the kids that will play may have played a lot last year, but maybe they're just sophomores or may have played a lot a couple years ago but had some injuries. So we just don't have a ton of four year starters to fall back on. So I think getting in here in the fall and actually having coach Horn, who's our new strength and conditioning coach since August, whenever we started in August to now, some of our kids that we thought, okay, well, we're going to go gap to gap singles. We're going to put the ball in play. We're going to run a little bit. Some of those kids have gotten significantly stronger and I think have some power potential. So it's there physically. I told the hitters a lot in January when we got back that we did a really good job of learning how to swing in the fall and now we have to learn how to hit. So swinging a bat is easy when there's no pressure and no count and no opponent and all the way down the list, but being able to really get situationally ready and then trust your physical ability, we've grown a lot in six months. So I think the thing I keep talking about in the batting cage is we may look different and that's fine. We just want to score as many runs as we can. I don't care how you get them, it doesn't matter if you hit it 300ft, it still counts the same as 201. It's just a run. So whatever we can do to put together as many runs as possible, that's what we're going to do. And so I know coach horn talks about training power through speed, and we do have a little bit of speed, maybe a little more in some areas than we've had in the past, and I think that's going to lead to some explosiveness. That's my hope anyway. So we had early in January focused a lot on manufacturing runs and bunts and hitting behind runners, and we're still doing that. But as we've kind of gotten closer to game day, things have become a little bit more normal for me, at least in the batting cage where we're working on the same type of stuff. So it's going to take time, I think, for some of our young kids to feel confident in their game experience or their game approach just because they haven't done it enough. So it will look different, I think. But I think it's got potential to get where it has been.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: I talked to CC Wong yesterday. She mentioned first, I don't know, a few days of practice or whatever, the pitching machines were set really tough, 70 miles an hour. She didn't really like it, but she learned over the fall. You faced some really good pitchers in the fall and at some point she realized it was really helpful take us through that process of kind of getting the hitters started on a tough note in the fall.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I think a lot of kids come in and Cece was different from the freshman in that she's had three years of college experience at a couple different places that were very good. So she's played on good teams and every hitting coach, every pitching coach, we all do our things our own way. So I think when the new people come in and we start in the fall, I usually give them a couple of days to like, this is how we set up and this is what we're going to get to. But these are the things that we need to prove, that we need to work on as fast as possible. So we kind of go through and I can't remember what I called it in the fall, like a checks and balances day. Can you do this? And if not, why not? And how can we fix know this is why we're going to do the next three weeks or whatever it may be.
And everybody's swing is built different. So for Cece, it might have been that high velo machine that really threw her off. It may have been the super slow change up that threw some of the freshmen off. So it just finding out where they're comfortable and what their weaknesses are and how to make every aspect of their offensive game stronger. But identifying who they are and how they work, first physically, and then you got to talk to them and figure out how their brain works and how you have to communicate. And so the fall is a challenging one for me because there's a lot of new people, a lot of new swings, and a lot of new personalities, like you mentioned that you have to work through and figure out how can you reach each person. So we do a lot of different stuff, and I think that may be, and I haven't been anywhere in a is. I like Wichita, so I've seen our place for seven falls now, but it may be totally different than what other hitting coaches do. And some people get in a routine and they are going to do these three drills and this is the plan every day and I get bored. So we like to mix it up and make things look different and kind of keep them on their toes and a little bit challenging mentally and physically so that when you get to the game, it's just one ball and one human that's throwing the ball. And humans make mistakes. So the machines can be pretty fierce. And I remind them that the machine's not pitching the next game, but if you can hit the dirtiest drop that. That machine throws, you'll probably miss or you'll probably crush a drop that's missed and they flatten it out and leave it over the plate. So we mix it up, keep them on their toes, keep them thinking, and then hopefully all the hard stuff's done. They can just get in the batter's box and see what they're made of.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: So there will probably be a lot of experimenting, a lot of changes in the lineup in the first few weeks of the season. Give us a look at the batting order and how you think it may play out this first weekend.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: That's a good question. We've talked about it in our weekly coaches meeting. Well, every week now, I think. So we're looking at Addie and Cece to be up in the top two. I don't think anybody's really set on which one's first yet, so being a righty and a lefty combination is great. So it may be a matchup situation, it might be speed over power.
We'll see. But one of those two will be in the lead off and the other will be in the two hole. I think then you look at Taylor Solacek, who's got a lot of at bats and a lot of experience coming back from last year to potentially be in the three hole after that.
Bailey Urban's done well, Lainey Brown has done well.
Caroline talent has done well. So somewhere in that four, five, six, those three or four will land and you'll have Sammy in there. Obviously she's going to play defense and she's been working extra on her offense. She had some big at bats and big hits for us last year, but I think wants to hit for well, I know she does because I told her I wanted her to hit for higher average this year as well. So she's got the potential to do that. So she'll be in the mix. And obviously, Kristen, she's probably going to stick back in the nine spot because she does a really good job of turning the order back over to the top. So I don't know if that was enough. That might be eight. We're looking at maybe whoever's not playing first base at this point is likely the DP spot. So you've got Caroline talent over there, Sid zenins in the mix there, Jess Garcia is in the mix there. So between those ten or so, it's going to be similar to that, if I had to guess. And like you mentioned, we're going to shuffle it a little bit based on how everybody looks. Get some at bats in the first weekend before we jump right into the next three tournaments that coach B has so graciously scheduled for us. So we'll get as many people, some experience as we can.
The other person that would be in the mix for the DP could be Chloe Barber, who hits for herself and she hits for powers. She's a big, strong kid, so we've got some options, but I think it'll kind of land in those chunks, if that made any sense.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: And Sydney Zenan and Chloe Barber are both correct.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: Yep. Yep. Chloe's from Minnesota, Sid's from down in the Fort Worth, Texas area. So big, strong right handed hitter, so they've worked really hard. It was actually really fun to see when we came back in January. You always worry when you go home for a Christmas break. It's four to six weeks of people going back to their garages or their basements or their barns or whatever they have to work on. And all of our kids came back and looked pretty good. They looked like they went in and took it pretty seriously and worked out strength and conditioning wise and in the cages. So when we started in January, I was really pleased with how our foundation of work. So they've done a great job know. Now we'll see how everybody adjusts to something that in their mind matters in lineups and games and if the pressure has an impact or not.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: I love the image of one of your Nebraska kids working out in the barn and there being holes in the wood in the back wall.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: I'm sure that maybe the Barnards and Taylor Solacek and Billy Urban have put some holes in things up there. I'm certain of that.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: So the opening weekend always brings its own set of challenges. And then, as you mentioned, things really take a step up. You play number five, Clemson starting Valentine's Day in Piorto Valarta. You also face number 23, South Carolina. Number 19, Auburn and UC Davis. So stepping up and your non conference schedules have always been tough and presented challenges. This seems a little different than most seasons. Does that change any the way that you look at this opening weekend? Do you have less time, less rope to give somebody, or do you not want to think of it that way?
[00:13:40] Speaker B: No, we did. We thought of it that way. We had that conversation yesterday because that was something that I don't think we have a lot of time. Obviously, you want to get as many people, as many at bats, at least offensively, that you can in the first weekend because you'd hate for somebody's first at bat to be against Valerie Kegel at Clemson, who's a returning player of the year, throws 70 to 72 miles an hour.
That's not a really fair first at bat, especially for a freshman. Maybe getting their first collegiate at bat against one of the best in the country. So if you can squeeze some of those at bats in the first weekend and get some of the nerves out and get the rust off before they're facing the three headed monster that we're going to see, I think that's important. We have to do that knowing that it could go great for them in Huntsville and they're at bats. It could go awful, it could go the opposite, and you just don't know. We've got to prepare and get them to a point where they feel confident. But yeah, in some ways it gives you a short leash for how long you're going to let them work through something at Sam Houston, knowing that if it's not working, we're probably going to have to make a change, and that is kind of a disservice to the next person. So it's a tough thing to navigate because obviously we want to be playing our best softball come conference time and late in the season, so you don't want to ruffle too many feathers early. But you also have to find out what you're made of. So it's going to be kind of case by case basis, and we're going to have to see, I hope everybody looks great. That'll be easy.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Is it a compliment to be included in that tournament in New Mexico that seems like maybe the basketball equivalent of going to the Maui invitational or the battle for Atlantis?
[00:15:22] Speaker B: It is. There's a couple of big tournaments that happen in the preseason. I think this one's pretty good. The Clearwater tournament, obviously, is something that people it's kind of an honor to be invited to that when you look at the first weekend, there's a tournament in Puerto Vallarta opening tomorrow, and the teams in that one are tough, Nebraska, Washington, OU, and a bunch of others. So for two weeks in a row, they're bringing some of the best softball in the country down to Mexico. So, yeah, it's an honor. Obviously, we're super grateful to the administration for letting us do. It's not cheap to take 30 something people down to Mexico for nearly a week, so I think all the girls are really excited.
Some people haven't traveled that far before, so I think it's going to be an all around really great experience. Maybe some eye opening travel experience or just seeing something different than Kansas for some kids. So yeah, we're honored to be included and grateful to be able to go.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Addison Barnard, she's talked in the preseason the ramp up here about her injury problems last season. She had shoulder surgery quickly after the season. She kind of ramped up slowly in the fall. Describe how she's looking now as we're a couple of days away from playing.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: She's one of the strongest kids we've seen and she did work her way back through the fall. Spent a good chunk of the fall swinging with one arm.
Not surprising to anybody, hit the ball further with one arm than some people do with two. So it was kind of, I think, boring and monotonous for her, but in some ways a challenge to be like, how can I be the best with what I've got? So she worked through that. I think it didn't affect her throw at all because it was her glove arm. So that rehab part of it, she didn't have to do a throw in progression or anything, but working her way into a full swing took some time. And then once she got two hands on the bat, she looked like old Addie B. And so if you didn't know that she had that surgery in June and looked at her, you'd never be able to tell. She's back to normal full strength, maybe stronger than ever, really aware of her body and its ability to do certain things and how she's feeling. And some of the best swings that I've seen her take have been in January this year. So I think it's not going to be about how Addie B. Feels. I think she'll feel great. She's going to do everything that she's supposed to do from a rehab standpoint, taking care of it, icing, being smart, she's going to do that. It's going to be is anybody going to throw her anything to hit and is she going to be disciplined enough to swing at the right pitches? Because she wants to hit everything and she has shown that she can hit most things. So we're really trying to build up around her to make sure that in the back of her mind she knows she doesn't have to do it by herself because she's been in a pretty good, she's had great surrounding cast her whole career here. And so I think we'll get to a point where we can say that again about this lineup. But coming back out, maybe she thinks she has something to prove because to Addie B, maybe her numbers last year were down. I think anybody would love those numbers.
Anybody else? I think she had a great year, considering the injury that she had and how significant it ended up being. So I think she looks great. She looks great in the outfield. Speed hasn't obviously taken a hit at all. She's flying around the outfield, stealing bases, swing looks great. So I think she's ready as ever.
[00:19:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Last year, she was probably in the 92nd percentile instead of the 99th percentile that she had as she had been as a freshman or sophomore. Okay, so that leads us perfectly into two names that all throw out. They seem to be key to the offense.
Newcomer Cece Wong. She'll play third. She's a transfer from Grand Canyon. Tell us a little bit more about her and how she's fitting into the plans.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Cece has been one of the greatest additions, and I say that knowing that we've had some great additions, we have profited from the portal in many ways, really. And Cece, not unlike the others that's come in looking for a second life of softball or rejuvenated, and she is happy. She fit in from the minute she got here. She's just kind of a fun loving, great kid, fun to be around. So immediately, she fit in socially. That was easy for her, and I think she would fit in anywhere. She's got an easy going personality that's just grateful and polite and just fun to be around.
As far as offensively, one of the most pure hitters that I've seen, just talent, power. She's not real tall, but has an ability to cover the zone that you would be. I'm every day like, wow, how did she get to that? Because her arms are not very long, but her swing can cover the whole zone, and she covers the whole zone with power. So for me, it's easy. I just have to stay out of her way and just let her do her thing. So give her a little bit of guidance here and here, and maybe this is what you can expect and all that, but she possesses all the tools that she needs to be really good at this level. So I hope that she can get into a groove and stay confident with what she's doing because she had to build herself back up. She would tell you that she came here probably not in the best shape, maybe not the happiest person in her softball career, and has really rebuilt herself as far as player, and it's shown she's killing it in the weight room.
She's crushing softball. She's playing great defense, but, yeah, one of the most pure lefties pure hitters I've worked with and bonus, she's a lefty. We needed some lefties in a bad way. I think this is the fewest lefties we've had in the hitting lineup or on the roster in my time here, so we needed that in a big way. And she immediately provides protection for Addie, which we need, obviously without Lauren and in Cam, too. We didn't mention Cam's out with an injury, too, so we lost some veteran people with good brains about hitting that we need to replace and Cece will fill some of that, so and fun to watch. I mean, if she gets a hold of a ball, it's pretty impressive.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Cam Compton, a junior, she had played some first base as the other person you mentioned, Taylor Salacheck also seems like a potential real key to this offense. Had a strong freshman year, hit 271, five home runs, five doubles. Tell us about Taylor's progress through her sophomore season.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I think getting game experience last year for Taylor was huge, and obviously we put Taylor in the outfield last year and she had not done that in her career. She came in as a middle infielder and has the know to cover the outfield. She didn't do a bad job at all, did really well and is way better. Worked really hard in the offseason at routes and covering ground and getting under and behind balls. And so she's doing a great job in the outfield, which helps everybody else cover less. So she's fitting in, feeling more comfortable, looks at home out there, which I think will help her confidence wise on the offensive side. She has power. She is very strong and is back to I think she got sick last year around the KU game and struggled to get back to full strength and then has been feeling great. Got back to lifting and doing all that stuff in the summer and fall and is, I think, really feeling good physically. So combine that with her just absolute love of hitting. She eats, breathes and sleeps hitting and so she'll go down there and hit on her own anytime she can. So when the weather finally got nice a couple of weeks ago, she has been in the cages daily, I would assume so. She's got the potential to do some big time damage in the box, which is nice. And then she adds speed on the bases, too. So we look for her to obviously 271 is great as a freshman. I think she can do that or more and I think her extra base hits will go up because her strength went up and her overall knowledge of kind of plan and approach of hitting has developed and grown a little bit, too. So I look for her to have a big year.
[00:24:02] Speaker A: You mentioned the transfer portal. Let's go back to that because that would be a topic that is high on the minds of college athletics fans. So transfer era, even before the portal, with the portal, I would say shocker. Softball, it's been a net positive. You've kept really good players. You brought in some really impactful transfers. Why? How have you been able to maintain that?
[00:24:26] Speaker B: Well, that's a coach b thing. The culture of this program is unlike any other I've ever been a part of, and it just continues.
I talk about this a lot when we talk recruiting, when we call our juniors to be in seniors, and that you don't just continue to be a threat at our level to the big dogs without having a great culture. Because in 2021 we lost a handful of Bailey Lang, Riley Buck Butters, Kaylee Hecker, Bailey Nickerson, and everybody probably thought, well, that's the end of the shockers for a little bit. They're going to have to rebuild after this. And then we come back in 22 and in some ways have better offensive numbers than that and continue to step up. So those five or six graduate and open doors know Addie B's in the outfield, in the center field after Bailey Nickerson or whatever, and Lauren Lucas steps up and Sid McKinney becomes Sid McKinney. And then Neely fills in and Lolo's getting better. And so you're thinking from the outside, how do they keep doing that? Because they graduate five up the middle. I think it was catcher, pitcher, second base, center field that year. And then 2022, we don't skip a beat. And then you lose Neely and Wiley and a smaller class, thankfully for us, in 22. And then in 2023, you do it again. And so we tell recruits all the time that these things don't just happen. This is something that's building from within and the culture is really strong that the people that are next, they know this is what we've been doing. This is how we've done it. And so it just continues to grow because we, and I know we've probably all said it, don't always get the big top recruits. We get the kids that maybe fly under the radar, that are undersized or underdeveloped, but we see potential. And then they put their nose to the ground and they just work, work, work. And so then they see what their older people are doing and just continue to grow. And then when you add in pieces like Bailey Lang, who was a transfer from northern Iowa, and Zoe Jones, who transferred from Texas Tech, and Riley Buck came back from central Florida, and Aaron McDonald came from Louisiana Tech. So it's just you add pieces like that. C. C. Wong is a perfect example. They come because saw Paul has hurt them in some way, or it's not what they expected or they've underperformed or whatever the situation may be, and they come here and they get a second chance and it's like a new life. And they love softball again because I think when you get to Wichita State and you get with the team and your teammates and the coaching staff, it's fun. It's a game. It's competitive. It's supposed to be fun. So we work hard every day. There's no doubt about that. We're not out there, know, joking around and not paying attention. But winning is fun. Competing with your friends is fun. And really enjoying softball can give you a totally different outlook on everything. And so Cece is the current example. It's happened many times before, but she loves softball. And I think when people love softball, they're happier. When they're happier, they play better.
It's been working. So I hope keep does. Keeps working.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Laney Brown catcher. She hit 257. Eleven doubles, five home runs last season. I've heard good things about her improving her hitting. Tell us about the progress from Laney.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Yeah, Laney's having a great preseason so far. She came in. I think if Laney were in here with us, she would agree with me. She might have had a tough fall academically, athletically, just a lot which happens when you're senior, fifth year. There's a lot of real life things that are happening to you that it's about to end and you're getting ready to go into adulthood and have to do things that maybe aren't as fun. And it can become tough, and you can feel the pressure and like, what's next? And there's some doubt and all that. So I think in the fall, she had a lot of things that she was worried about and then got those taken care of, came back, looks like a new person. Happy, light hearted. She's been hitting so well. I've been joking with her that she needs to eat the same breakfast every day from now until the end of May, whatever it is. And I repeatedly tell her, don't change your socks, whatever you got to do. This is rolling. But she's hitting pitches that I think sometimes she's surprised that she hits and she crushes them, and she's like, holy cow, this feels great. So then we try not to talk to her too much and don't change anything and just keep doing what you're doing.
But she's another example. Now, she's somebody that's had quite a bit of game experience, so she's seen a lot in her time here, but she's somebody that offensively, I think will do well because she's advanced mentally or she's more mature, and so she's not maybe terrified of the process or she doesn't care who's on the mound, doesn't bother her. She knows what she needs to do, and she's going to take care of her business. And that's like when hitters can figure out that it unlocks the next level of offense. When it doesn't matter who's throwing the pitch, it still has to be a strike. So it doesn't matter how fast or slow it gets there. It's still got to come in this little zone, and all you have to do is put the barrel on it, which we try to make sound easy, obviously much more difficult. But those things don't seem to bother her or some of the upperclassmen because they've seen some good stuff. They've seen a lot, so they're not phased by that. The pressure hopefully doesn't crack them anymore. They're past that. It's just softball. So she's been doing great, and I hope she eats the same breakfast for the next four months.
[00:30:36] Speaker C: Hi, this is Rick Muma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward together podcast. Each episode, I sit down with different guests from Shocker nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Exclude CC Wong because we've talked a lot about Cece. Give the fans another newcomer or two that they should keep an eye on.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: I think, offensively speaking, first, Sid Zenin's somebody to keep an eye on. I know she's somebody I'm keeping an eye on. Big power potential right handed hitter, plays little first base, can play little outfield. She has been getting better and stronger since we started in August, so I will be interested to see what she can do offensively. The other one, I would say, is Chloe Barber, who flew under the radar a little bit recruiting wise, and maybe that's because she's from Minnesota and we don't get up there too much, but she's a big, powerful right handed pitcher, hits right handed, really could. I could see her playing both sides of the ball. During her career, so she'll be fun to watch. I think we'll get to see her pitch quite a bit in Sam Houston, and thankfully, she jumps into a pitching staff that is better than ever and has a lot of options. So she's got great mentors and great people around her, and everybody's a little different. So I think she'll thrive in our program not to downplay any of the other freshmen. They're all working their rear ends off. We've got good speed in Avery Barnard. Mila's athletic. Sophie's got a cannon for an arm. I mean, we've got some good pieces that will be fun to watch as they grow up. So I think we're optimistic, obviously, that we'll be able to see some of them play some big roles. But, yeah, I mean, it's going to be fun. This class is fun. They're different, they're good people, which it makes it even more fun to work with them.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: Let me run back through some of those names to make sure fans are on the right page. We got Avery Barnard, addison's sister, plays outfield most of the time. Am I understanding that right?
[00:32:55] Speaker B: That's correct.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: Mila Seton, also a freshman. Where does she play?
[00:32:59] Speaker B: She's been doing a little bit of middle infield and outfield, so she played some shortstop growing up, and center field, so she can do both.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: And then who was the third freshman? Oh, Sophie Johnson, catcher.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: Catcher, yeah. And Sophie's been. Coach. Easton's been working with Sophie and coach B. Obviously, being a catcher, they've been working with her quite a bit. She's got one of the best arms on an athlete that we've seen in a while, so getting her comfortable and learning from Laney and getting our pitching staff is pretty good, in my opinion. We've had to face them now in inner squads and stuff, and I'm over it. I'm ready to go to Huntsville, Texas, and not have to deal with that. You know, Sophie gets thrown in there. Lainey's more familiar with them. Sophie gets thrown in and has four to five different really good arms to corral. So she's on some days probably a little bit frazzled, but has done a great job behind the plate, also has done really well with me, and we had to make a couple tiny changes with her swing, and I think she's starting to look good. She's not real big, but super powerful, so that'll be exciting to see how she grows as well.
[00:34:07] Speaker A: So big changes to the American Athletic Conference. Six new members, five of them play softball. Charlote, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Texas San Antonio and UAB. Rice is the one that does not play softball. WSU preseason favorite in the coaches poll, followed by newcomers Charlote and North Texas. WSU and Charlote both got votes in the preseason top 25. Charlote won conference USA last season, followed by North Texas, UAB and Florida Atlantic. And Charlote got an at large bid to the regional. So kind of a long winded way to get to did this help the American Athletic Conference as far as strength?
[00:34:46] Speaker B: I think it did. And I think originally when we heard UCF and Houston were leaving, we thought that might hurt. And then when we saw what we added, we got better. I mean, UCF is tough and I think they'll. I'm, I'm excited to see how they do in the big twelve. So losing them, I wasn't super sad about losing a Florida team. Unfortunately, we gained another Florida team who is on the up for sure. Their coach has got them going. They've got a lot of kids out of the portal and I think she's in year two. So they've made some good moves to get ready for the american conference, so I think they'll be somebody to keep an eye on as we then, you know, Charlote and North Texas, we're familiar with them, North Texas being so close that we played them just last year in their tournament and so we are up against them for recruiting all the time.
That's going to be an easy rival for us. And they've been great. So they'll come in already good. And then we played in Charlote's tournament two years ago, I think, and they're tough, so their coach has got them going.
They've got a good pitching staff, well rounded. So, you know, immediately you lose one nationally ranked team in UCF and you think dodged a bullet there and then you get three right there that I think will be contenders. Not to downplay UAB, who had a great year, and then UTSA has a new coaching staff, so it won't take them long to get their stuff going. So it's good. It's good for softball. I would love to have a couple easy weekends, but every year that passes, they're harder and harder to come by. So yeah, I think the American definitely benefited from the shake up and we're going to have some good ball games on our schedule, that's for sure.
[00:36:28] Speaker A: If you look at the Conference USA standings over the last three or four years, Charlote and North Texas pretty consistently at the top or near the top. Now, the other big change would be you now have ten conference members, up from seven last season. So now you've got nine conference weekends, which seems like a significant scheduling change. How did that change how Wichita State puts together its schedule?
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah, we have to jam a lot in the preseason, so we start conference this year, the second weekend of March, I think, and we lucked out bringing Florida Atlantic up to Wichita on March eigth. So we hope it's 34 degrees and they're homesick and that works out for us. But yeah, we're starting early, so we've always benefited from having Oklahoma, states, Kus, Nebraska, OU, all close enough to where we can do midweeks or home at homes or whatever it may be. So we'll still try to sneak some of those in, but we are going to have to bump it up a little bit. So our first four weekends, again, I'd like to thank coach B for just jamming those packed of big time games. So we hit the ground running as soon as we start here this weekend and it's one after the next after the next of teams that have either excellent pitching or both are in the top 25, all that stuff. So we're going to need to steal some wins from some of those teams and try to get ahead of it so that once we can get to conference, we can really settle in because that's going to end up being the most important. We always want to win the american, and if we can win the conference tournament at home this year, that would be huge. So it's a long ways away so we won't get ahead of ourselves. But yeah, we're jammed for the first month.
It's going to feel like no days off and just one big dog after the next. But we'll still sneak in Oklahoma State. We go down there, we're going to Kansas, OU's coming here, and then Oklahoma State comes back. So we'll get our fill of power five midweeks and matchups, but the first month is heavy.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: We'll also play Nebraska in the non conference and Arkansas. Both of those.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: We're in their tournaments.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: Yeah, Nebraska will be really interesting with the transfers over the summer. So Shockers open up 2024 season Friday versus Stephen F. Austin in Huntsville, Texas. Big question. I know there are a lot of Chiefs fans on this team.
How do you set up to be able to watch the Super bowl on Sunday? Because you play Sunday, I think at eleven UNLV to end up. So you'll be on your way back on the bus from Texas while the Chiefs are, I guess, kicking off.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't even know what time the game is, but last year we did the same thing. We were driving back from maybe San Marcos and we watched it in the bus, so the bus know, whatever it has. And then coach B brings her apple tv. And that'll be one of the first things that we set up tonight when we get on the bus that makes sure all the technology is working, all the tvs are working, the sound, all that. So coach B, she's a pretty big Chiefs fan, so I know she's packing her lucky shirt and whatever snacks. Last year we were at Buc Ee's for the halftime show, and that was really tough for some people to leave to go get snacks or should they watch Rihanna or what do we do? And it was tough for a lot of our kids. So I'm not sure exactly where we'll be in transit when the game does start, but we have a couple diehards, so it'll be fun. And then we'll have some kids that cheer for anybody but the Chiefs. So they always just make people mad.
[00:39:59] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: It'll be fun.
[00:40:00] Speaker A: It would be a tough decision. Beef jerky or the halftime show or cheese curds or brisket I think is a favorite.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Right? As you've heard. Yeah, the girls love Bucky's. So you get 15 minutes in there and it's like just the Walmart of gas stations and you can get lost. So they had a tough time.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: Besides Christie.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: Watch them laugh.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Besides Christy Breadbenner, who's the biggest Chiefs fan on that team?
[00:40:22] Speaker B: I think it'd have to be Jess Garcia.
She knows more about the Chiefs than anybody.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: Middle Valley girl, right? She'd be from the Kansas City.
[00:40:32] Speaker B: Yep. She's been a Chiefs fan I think her whole life, so she's geared up for it. She'll have her jersey or sweatshirt or both or know, I don't know, whatever it's going to take for them to win, they're both going to have it.
[00:40:44] Speaker A: Okay, shocker. Start on Friday. Elizabeth, thank you for your time.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Thanks, Paul.
[00:41:03] Speaker C: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University's strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected]. Bradshaw into Wingate.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: Wingate's going to dribble it a couple.
[00:41:21] Speaker C: Of times and throws it in the hands of Kuznard. Threw it away. Kuznard to Ryan Martin for the dunk. The shockers are going to the sweet 16.
It's all over. The shockers. Up seven, 3 seconds. Two jeopardized. Smith is no good. Wichita State to the sweet 16.
