-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Play Ball!: First year softball program will play its first regular season game this weekend
Archive
Comments
Story
Something special will take place this weekend when Boise State’s softball team takes the field in Cathedral City, Calif.
This will be the Broncos’ first official game and head coach Erin Thorpe is excited about the opportunity that was presented.
“It’s a chance to be part of history,” Thorpe said.
However, being the coach of a first year team will prove a definite challenge for Thorpe.
“I think above all the on field stuff is the stuff behind the scenes,” Thorpe said. “The organizational stuff, making sure you cross every I and dot every T.”
The building of the roster came from a variety of ways. They have junior college transfers, recruited freshman and one athlete who made it through an open try-out.
One team member is Mandy Klein.
Klein stood out on the Broncos volleyball team and now has the opportunity to play softball for the Broncos.
“I think she was definitely interested once she knew that Boise State was going to get a [softball] program,” Thorpe said. “I think it was a good opportunity for her to come out, do a sport she loved in high school and continue to play.”
A first year program like Boise State’s encounters plenty of up-hill battles. Most of the players on the roster have never played at the collegiate level. Five members are junior college transfers. With their experience comes the expectation of responsibility.
“You have to count on the leadership,” Thorpe said. “Hopefully our junior college athletes will bring that natural leadership to the table because they are the only ones with collegiate playing experience.”
The junior college athletes will also have the opportunity to set the bar for future teams to come.
“We lean on [them] and I think that the success of a program comes from how strong their leaders are,” Thorpe said. “That is something that we are looking to gain from our junior college players.”
Getting the interest of athletes into a first year program was a challenge for Thorpe and her staff. The coaching staff had the opportunity to set the records and traditions for BSU softball.
“The strength of the athletic department itself was a really strong selling point,” Thorpe said. “I think we did a pretty good job with this first year team.”
Last fall, the Broncos held intersquad games where Thorpe saw encouraging things. Thorpe talked about her strong pitching staff surpassing her expectations.
“Defensively, we have some short coming areas,” Thorpe said. “Those short comings are going to come with any team where you have nine girls playing together for the first time.”
On the offensive end of things, Thorpe said they have a group of strong hitters.
“We have some lefty slappers, we have some power hitters and we have some people who just put the ball in play,” Thorpe said. “It is a pretty good mix and I think we are going in there with some tools to at least compete.”
The Broncos will face some tough teams this weekend in California. One of these is the 14 ranked California Golden Bears.
The Broncos’ first game is against the University of Illinois. They will also face University of Wisconsin and James Madison University this weekend. As for the rest of the season, the Broncos will play in a tough Western Athletic Conference.
“I think the WAC is one of the top third or fourth strongest conferences in the nation,” Thorpe said. “It’s a strong softball conference and keeps getting better and better.”
The season will be interesting to watch as BSU’s softball team begins a tradition for the program.
“We have talented athletes,” Thorpe said. “I think at the end of it we could go out and surprise people."
JOEY MCCULLOUGH
Arbiter Journalist
