The Falcon softball team begins a new season on Friday afternoon with two games in Cleveland, Ohio where they’ll open up against the Niagara Purple Eagles followed by the Cleveland State Vikings, the host of CSU Dome Tournament.
On Saturday, the games will continue, where the Falcons will take on the Canisius Griffins, Niagara once again and finishing off the tournament on Sunday afternoon with just one game against the Robert Morris Colonials.
But, it’s a new year for the Falcons, coming off a 24-32 overall record in 2017, head softball coach Sarah Willis expectations far exceed the previous two years and has championships on her mind.
“Especially now that I do actually have my first full recruiting class,” Willis said. “(The expectation) is certainly to make the MAC tournament and to compete to win the MAC Championship this year.”
Along with having her first full recruiting class under her belt, bringing eight new players to the team, the Falcons also have many players that are returning from last year’s team.
“Half the team is new, while half the team is coming back. It’ll definitely make for an interesting combination, I think a really good one,” Willis said.
One of the important factors and reasons behind believing that Willis has a better team this year is due to the competition and improved depth from top to bottom, something she attributes to not having as much in previous years.
Willis realizes that depth and talent has improved since year one on the job with her teams, but whether that translates to a real game on the field is yet to be determined.
“I’m remaining optimistic about this season,” Willis said. “Certainly, you can see where we’ve improved, I see it everyday in practice, whether that’s consistency with our pitching staff and our bullpen, our defense.”
While Willis mentions a lot of areas that she believes her team has gotten better, one element for this Falcons team is the offense and ability to score.
“I think the biggest difference is going to be our offensive lineup this year, the runs that we’re going to be able to put up on the board this year,” Willis said. “We have a lot of strength, again, a lot of depth in the lineup. So, if someone’s not getting the job done, we have people to go to this year that we didn’t have before in the past.”
Some of the returning players are the biggest contributors from last season, including three out of the four top offensive players coming back from last year are sophomore Kendyl Wheeler, redshirt senior Aspen Searle and junior Alex Sorgi.
Willis agrees that the girls’ offensive efficiency is important and hopes to be replicated for this season, she sees the girls as bringing a new benefit for the team as a whole.
“I think that’s going to mean good leadership in the lineup,” Willis said. “When you have your top three offensive numbers returning and those three are staggered throughout the lineup, I think that’s just going to show good leadership and it’s going to supply the maturity that we need to lead some of the youth that are going to be making appearances in the lineup this year.”
The hopes and goals for her team aren’t just for the players, they’re for Willis and her coaching staff as well. In her mind, in order for the team to be better, the coaching staff needs to work just as well together and Willis is confident that’ll lead to good things for the players and her staff this season.
“This is actually the first year I have returning assistants,” Willis said. “It’s certainly going to help with the ebb and flow of every game, decisions, decision making time and when we need to make changes or adjustments throughout the season. It starts with us, it starts at the top and I believe in the confidence we have in each other.”
