Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Softball Ready to Take the Next Step
2/1/2019 1:07:00 PM | Softball
By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Forget last season's softball rollercoaster. Victories and championships are there for Indiana's taking.
The Hoosiers are ready to take, Shonda Stanton says.
"I know our kids are up for the challenge."
IU's second-year coach speaks from a small windowless Assembly Hall office. Josiah Stanton plays with toys while his mother flashes a warm smile that hides a fiercely competitive nature.
"Our expectations are greater."
Stanton radiates positive motivation the way others breathe. She has the Hoosiers believing they're on the cusp of greatness, and woe to any doubters.
"That was the biggest shift in mindset – their ability to believe we can be a relevant program," she says. "We can be a force in the Big Ten. This is a program that should matter. We have all the resources. It's Indiana. Start acting like it. That's changed for us."
Change radiates breakthrough possibilities. Stanton returns seven starters from a team that almost won a Big Ten title last year despite a start to non-conference misery (4-19 record) thanks to an aggressive coaching approach that has delivered over 600 career victories over two decades.
"Practices are so much harder and faster this season," Stanton says. "They're getting after it.
"The other day a kid was going hard to home. There was a pretty good collision. You want to keep everybody safe and healthy, but it was fun to watch everyone turn it up another level."
Another level is needed as the Hoosiers aim to make conference title contention the norm for the foreseeable future.
How do you do that after long-time also-ran status?
Stanton has a plan.
"Our keys to success are pitching -- we feel confident in that -- and really solidify an identity in (hitting and defense).
"Once we do that, I think we'll be in great shape. Right now we have unknowns in both of those."
One thing is known about a Stanton-coached team -- the Hoosiers will push for the extra base. They will steal. They will dare.
"Offensively we'll attack and take the next 60 feet, and pounce on those things," she says. "We have to be able to hit, too."
As for the team speed needed to really get the offense flowing, Stanton says, "We still have to continue to answer the speed and power game. We're not to the level where I feel we've arrived. We're getting there."
IU almost got there last year, overcoming that non-conference start with a 17-6 Big Ten finish.
"Last year was such an anomaly," Stanton says. "I don't know what was harder -- only winning four games in a five-to-six-week period, or sweeping five Big Ten teams.
"Even when you have good teams, you don't sweep five teams because everybody has an ace. It was such a weird, interesting, unique season.
"The coach-speak is you want to start fast and finish strong. We have to come out faster. I can't imagine us not. I feel confident about that."
Confidence starts with First-Team All-Big Ten pitcher Tara Trainer. Last year as a junior, Trainer had the best year of her career, going 17-18 with a 2.64 earned run average and 216 strikeouts, including 16 against Samford. Opponents hit just .199 against her.
With 42 career victories, she's poised for a monster final season.
Why?
The short answer -- she changed.
The longer answer -- she switched from a drop curve to a traditional curveball to compliment her dominant fastball.
"She had the ability to go to one side of the plate very strong (with the fastball)," Stanton says, "and she had a pitch that wasn't working really well.
"It was a drop curve and any time you have a pitch that's named after two things, well, the ball doesn't do two things. It either drops or it curves. What I'm pleased with is … what senior will look at her pitching coach and say, yes, I'm ready to develop another pitch? She's been all in."
For this Stanton thanks assistant coach Chanda Bell.
"Coach Bell has a real knack for teaching new pitches. It's not a revolutionary pitch, but it was new to Tara's tool box. Now she can go to both sides of the plate effectively. She can mix speeds. That's what you want out of a pitcher. She'll be fun to watch. She'll be key for us to be successful."
Here are some other keys:
Junior outfielder Gabbi Jenkins led IU in batting (.369) and in hits (66), and was second in stolen bases (26) last season. That was a big boost from her freshman numbers -- .310 average, 13 steals.
Sophomore outfielder Taylor Lambert made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team a year ago after hitting .255 with four home runs, 16 runs batted in and 10 steals.
Junior infielder Katie Lacefield hit .253 with two homers and 19 runs batted in. Her 24 walks tied for the team lead. She earned academic all-Big Ten honors.
Junior catcher Bella Norton has been solid defensively – only two errors in each of her first two seasons. She hit .207 last year after hitting .212 as a freshman.
As far as newcomers, Marshall transfer Grayson Radcliff appears set at shortstop. She had 30 hits and 15 runs batted in last season.
IU also added a pair of speedy freshmen in New Palestine's Tete Hart (she played on a pair of state title teams) and Bloomington North's Paige Chitwood, a walk-on.
"We'll rely on Gabbi heavily to be a table setter," Stanton says. "We expect great things from Taylor Lambert. She'll be at the top of the lineup. I expect Lambert and Gabbi to bounce back and forth there. Lambert was comfortable in that 9-hole last year. She was able to drop the long ball and do some great things.
"There was not a lot of pressure on her. As a sophomore, I've said to her, 'You have the potential to be an all-Big Ten-type athlete. We need you to step up.'
"Katie has to step up at third. We need her to anchor things down and take care of the ball. She'll be at the heart of the lineup doing good things.
"We really need Bella Norton. I believe this will be a breakout year for her. She has to minimize any freebies, the dropped balls behind the plate. It's okay if somebody gets 60 feet on us, but they can't get 120. She's stronger. Her throws are sharper, and offensively she's looking pretty solid. We'll need her to bring it as well.
"(Radcliffe) has to step up defensively. I don't care what she does offensively, but she needs to play great at short. That will help anchor down that left side of the infield."
Stanton has built a non-conference schedule to blend challenges with successes. IU opens its season Feb. 8-10 in Boca Raton, Florida, as part of the FAU First Pitch Classic. The Hoosiers will play Virginia, Bethune Cookman, St. Johns's, Florida Atlantic and No. 6 Georgia. IU also plays at perennial power LSU in early March.
"We did a good job of having a balanced schedule," Stanton says. "Some games you feel you'll get some wins, and then you put a Georgia or an LSU in the mix so you'll be battle tested and see where you measure, because those will be two of the top programs in the country.
"People have this mistaken philosophy you have to play all top-25 teams. No. You have to win. It doesn't help to go 0-5 against a top-10 schedule. You win games and put up a 40-win season, your RPI will be where you need it to be.
"I feel good about the schedule. It will test us, challenge us and give us an opportunity to be more confident going into Big Ten play."
Confidence also should get a boost from hosting the Big Ten tourney in May at Andy Mohr Field.
"It's huge," Stanton says. "All the games will be televised, so we get to showcase Andy Mohr Field to a national television audience. You can't pay for that publicity. That's free marketing dollars. I tell people wherever I go that we're hosting the Big Ten.
"It's a gorgeous facility. We've proven we can win on it. We're a team that can win the Big Ten title on Andy Mohr Field. If that doesn't pump you up … that's pretty exciting."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Forget last season's softball rollercoaster. Victories and championships are there for Indiana's taking.
The Hoosiers are ready to take, Shonda Stanton says.
"I know our kids are up for the challenge."
IU's second-year coach speaks from a small windowless Assembly Hall office. Josiah Stanton plays with toys while his mother flashes a warm smile that hides a fiercely competitive nature.
"Our expectations are greater."
Stanton radiates positive motivation the way others breathe. She has the Hoosiers believing they're on the cusp of greatness, and woe to any doubters.
"That was the biggest shift in mindset – their ability to believe we can be a relevant program," she says. "We can be a force in the Big Ten. This is a program that should matter. We have all the resources. It's Indiana. Start acting like it. That's changed for us."
Change radiates breakthrough possibilities. Stanton returns seven starters from a team that almost won a Big Ten title last year despite a start to non-conference misery (4-19 record) thanks to an aggressive coaching approach that has delivered over 600 career victories over two decades.
"Practices are so much harder and faster this season," Stanton says. "They're getting after it.
"The other day a kid was going hard to home. There was a pretty good collision. You want to keep everybody safe and healthy, but it was fun to watch everyone turn it up another level."
Another level is needed as the Hoosiers aim to make conference title contention the norm for the foreseeable future.
How do you do that after long-time also-ran status?
Stanton has a plan.
"Our keys to success are pitching -- we feel confident in that -- and really solidify an identity in (hitting and defense).
"Once we do that, I think we'll be in great shape. Right now we have unknowns in both of those."
One thing is known about a Stanton-coached team -- the Hoosiers will push for the extra base. They will steal. They will dare.
"Offensively we'll attack and take the next 60 feet, and pounce on those things," she says. "We have to be able to hit, too."
As for the team speed needed to really get the offense flowing, Stanton says, "We still have to continue to answer the speed and power game. We're not to the level where I feel we've arrived. We're getting there."
IU almost got there last year, overcoming that non-conference start with a 17-6 Big Ten finish.
"Last year was such an anomaly," Stanton says. "I don't know what was harder -- only winning four games in a five-to-six-week period, or sweeping five Big Ten teams.
"Even when you have good teams, you don't sweep five teams because everybody has an ace. It was such a weird, interesting, unique season.
"The coach-speak is you want to start fast and finish strong. We have to come out faster. I can't imagine us not. I feel confident about that."
Confidence starts with First-Team All-Big Ten pitcher Tara Trainer. Last year as a junior, Trainer had the best year of her career, going 17-18 with a 2.64 earned run average and 216 strikeouts, including 16 against Samford. Opponents hit just .199 against her.
With 42 career victories, she's poised for a monster final season.
Why?
The short answer -- she changed.
The longer answer -- she switched from a drop curve to a traditional curveball to compliment her dominant fastball.
"She had the ability to go to one side of the plate very strong (with the fastball)," Stanton says, "and she had a pitch that wasn't working really well.
"It was a drop curve and any time you have a pitch that's named after two things, well, the ball doesn't do two things. It either drops or it curves. What I'm pleased with is … what senior will look at her pitching coach and say, yes, I'm ready to develop another pitch? She's been all in."
For this Stanton thanks assistant coach Chanda Bell.
"Coach Bell has a real knack for teaching new pitches. It's not a revolutionary pitch, but it was new to Tara's tool box. Now she can go to both sides of the plate effectively. She can mix speeds. That's what you want out of a pitcher. She'll be fun to watch. She'll be key for us to be successful."
Here are some other keys:
Junior outfielder Gabbi Jenkins led IU in batting (.369) and in hits (66), and was second in stolen bases (26) last season. That was a big boost from her freshman numbers -- .310 average, 13 steals.
Sophomore outfielder Taylor Lambert made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team a year ago after hitting .255 with four home runs, 16 runs batted in and 10 steals.
Junior infielder Katie Lacefield hit .253 with two homers and 19 runs batted in. Her 24 walks tied for the team lead. She earned academic all-Big Ten honors.
Junior catcher Bella Norton has been solid defensively – only two errors in each of her first two seasons. She hit .207 last year after hitting .212 as a freshman.
As far as newcomers, Marshall transfer Grayson Radcliff appears set at shortstop. She had 30 hits and 15 runs batted in last season.
IU also added a pair of speedy freshmen in New Palestine's Tete Hart (she played on a pair of state title teams) and Bloomington North's Paige Chitwood, a walk-on.
"We'll rely on Gabbi heavily to be a table setter," Stanton says. "We expect great things from Taylor Lambert. She'll be at the top of the lineup. I expect Lambert and Gabbi to bounce back and forth there. Lambert was comfortable in that 9-hole last year. She was able to drop the long ball and do some great things.
"There was not a lot of pressure on her. As a sophomore, I've said to her, 'You have the potential to be an all-Big Ten-type athlete. We need you to step up.'
"Katie has to step up at third. We need her to anchor things down and take care of the ball. She'll be at the heart of the lineup doing good things.
"We really need Bella Norton. I believe this will be a breakout year for her. She has to minimize any freebies, the dropped balls behind the plate. It's okay if somebody gets 60 feet on us, but they can't get 120. She's stronger. Her throws are sharper, and offensively she's looking pretty solid. We'll need her to bring it as well.
"(Radcliffe) has to step up defensively. I don't care what she does offensively, but she needs to play great at short. That will help anchor down that left side of the infield."
Stanton has built a non-conference schedule to blend challenges with successes. IU opens its season Feb. 8-10 in Boca Raton, Florida, as part of the FAU First Pitch Classic. The Hoosiers will play Virginia, Bethune Cookman, St. Johns's, Florida Atlantic and No. 6 Georgia. IU also plays at perennial power LSU in early March.
"We did a good job of having a balanced schedule," Stanton says. "Some games you feel you'll get some wins, and then you put a Georgia or an LSU in the mix so you'll be battle tested and see where you measure, because those will be two of the top programs in the country.
"People have this mistaken philosophy you have to play all top-25 teams. No. You have to win. It doesn't help to go 0-5 against a top-10 schedule. You win games and put up a 40-win season, your RPI will be where you need it to be.
"I feel good about the schedule. It will test us, challenge us and give us an opportunity to be more confident going into Big Ten play."
Confidence also should get a boost from hosting the Big Ten tourney in May at Andy Mohr Field.
"It's huge," Stanton says. "All the games will be televised, so we get to showcase Andy Mohr Field to a national television audience. You can't pay for that publicity. That's free marketing dollars. I tell people wherever I go that we're hosting the Big Ten.
"It's a gorgeous facility. We've proven we can win on it. We're a team that can win the Big Ten title on Andy Mohr Field. If that doesn't pump you up … that's pretty exciting."
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
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