UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With the start of the 2022 season this weekend, the Penn State softball team is looking to bring their resilience and valuable learning experiences into the new year.
Head coach Clarisa Crowell is ready to take on her second year at Penn State, as she works to continue to grow the program in aspects of leadership and player development. She is hoping her players are ready to begin to show those improvements when they start the new campaign this weekend in Leesburg, Florida.
Here are a few key takeaways from the program's season-opening media session this Tuesday:
Growth from Experiences
Last year there were a lot of changes in the program with the new coaching staff and new players working together for the first time. It takes time to get acclimated to the new team dynamic, and this year the team is ready to showcase how comfortable they've become.
"This year the team understands our expectations as a program and out on the softball field," said Crowell. "I definitely think that it has helped us this year to have those previous experiences together. We are moving into the new season with a majority of our players returning, I've loved the cohesiveness they've shown."
Junior shortstop Kaitlyn Morrison stated that the team no longer has that "fear of failure," and takes everything as a learning opportunity to improve.
"Last year shaped us to no longer fear failure," said Morrison. "As a team we learned what is expected of us, and to take everything one thing at a time. Every day is a new day, and every pitch is a new pitch."
This mindset is going to be vital for the team moving into the upcoming season as they've learned how to be resilient on the field.
"Last year as a coach I learned how resilient my team is," said Crowell. "We are carrying this into the new year, and we are going to be a better team overall through our experiences together."
Leadership
With the new season comes leadership opportunities among players. In the fall the team was introduced to a leadership training program called The Program that assisted in further developing their team culture.
"I love the camaraderie that the team has developed over the past year," said Crowell. "The team has played for a whole year now and the leadership training experiences as a whole furthered our dynamic."
This year the team has introduced team captains including seniors Bailey Parshall, Ally Kurland, Lilia Crouthamel and as well as Morrison.
"I've been extremely pleased with where our leadership has been this year," said Crowell. "It is so important to have leadership within our team and those four upperclassmen are doing a great job of leading the way as highly respected individuals."
Morrison added that the introduction of captains has set a plan to action within the team.
"We didn't have [captains] last year, and I think putting that in place for us has really set up our goals easier this year, and we are kind of more like a plan to action with leadership," she said.
Following Morrison's lead, senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter added that the team has become a sisterhood, and every player is respected as a leader on the field.
"We all respect each other as leaders and we really hope we grow as a team and individually as leaders and players," said Lingenfelter.
Strong Team Culture
The new leadership ideals go hand-in-hand with the team culture development as the players have bonded to form a strong group.
Morrison said Tuesday the vital changes with leadership development has changed the team as a whole.
"My first year here, the team was completely different," said Morrison. "We have really developed as a team through establishing the culture."
The team seems to focus on the three main pillars that shape its culture: Ohana (Hawaiian for family), Blue Collar, and Toughness.
"Those are the three main things that the team will be focusing on," said Crowell. "I am hoping that the team will display those three pillars throughout the season."
High Intensity Practices
In the offseason a key component of the team's training focused on high-intensity effort.
"The players are definitely stronger this year and with strength comes more durability," said Crowell. "Our staff does a fantastic job of developing the players and we feel ready for what is to come of the season."
Lingenfelter has personally seen improvements in her game within the last year from that perspective.
"I've become 100 percent better as a player and person on and off the field," said Lingenfelter, on how the staff has helped her grow the past year. "They have helped me develop an immense amount through training and the one-on-one time we all get. When you have good relations with your coaches it makes everything so much better."
Goal of Maximizing Effort on the Field
For the upcoming games heading into the season a major focus of the team is maximizing efforts on the field.
"I am looking for my team to play with maximum effort, a lot of energy, and grit this season," said Crowell. At the end of the day, I expect my team to control what they can and wrap their attitude in effort."
Crowell noted the overall goal of the staff is to build a better program and to maximize the potential of the student-athletes, starting with these early season contests.
"Our goal as a team right now is to stay fully focused on our pre-conference schedule and that's going to start with just staying focused on one weekend at a time,'' she said.
The Nittany Lions open the 2022 season on Friday, Feb. 11 against No. 11 Missouri in Leesburg, Florida in the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament before also facing Eastern Kentucky, UConn, Pitt and Akron.
