Latest / Coaches Corner / UConn Softball Coach Laura Valentino - April 28

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UConn Softball Coach Laura Valentino - April 28 · Coaches Corner

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  Speaker 1: Hi everyone. I'm Bob Joyce. This is a HUSKYHQ dot
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  Speaker 1: com Coaches Corner of podcast and it's time to catch
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  Speaker 1: up with my friend Laura Valentino. She's a softball coach
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  Speaker 1: at Yukon and her team is at five hundred through
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  Speaker 1: fifty games. They close out the regular season this weekend
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  Speaker 1: with three at Georgetown. They're currently tied for second in
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  Speaker 1: the league at fifteen and six with Creighton. Husky's took
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  Speaker 1: two out of three from the Blue Jays and for
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  Speaker 1: the sixth or eight year, they're going to the Big
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  Speaker 1: East Tournament, which will be next weekend in Chicago. Laura,
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  Speaker 1: first of all, thanks for doing this again. A lot
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  Speaker 1: of new faces, a lot of new positions, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of new responsibilities with this team. What's this road been like.
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  Speaker 1: It's been a rocky road, I know at times, but
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  Speaker 1: it seems like right now, which you hope you're playing,
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  Speaker 1: maybe your best softball of the season. Would that be accurate?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Bob, thank you. I appreciate you having me and
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  Speaker 2: just being able to talk about our program is always
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  Speaker 2: such a pleasure with you. So I think you hit
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  Speaker 2: the nail on the head in terms of obviously not
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  Speaker 2: having the start that we wanted to. Just have been
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  Speaker 2: through some adversity early on with some injuries and you know,
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  Speaker 2: working through having almost half of your roster be new.
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  Speaker 2: It has its challenges in itself, but I will say
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  Speaker 2: we learned a lot about ourselves early on, and I
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  Speaker 2: always appreciate the challenge early. We never try to schedule
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  Speaker 2: in the sense that's going to be easy by any means.
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  Speaker 2: We do it to prepare us for postseason and winning
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  Speaker 2: a championship. So although we didn't get the results that
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  Speaker 2: we wanted to, we were able to turn the corner
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  Speaker 2: once we got to conference play and really take what
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  Speaker 2: we learned about ourselves as a team and be able
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  Speaker 2: to put it to work in conference when it mattered most.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm really happy with the way we're playing right now.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we're really pitching as a staff successfully. Our
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  Speaker 2: offense is you know, led by obviously, we have seniors
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  Speaker 2: in our program that have had such a journey. They're
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  Speaker 2: playing some of their best softball in their last year,
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  Speaker 2: which I'm really proud of them for, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: playing some great defense like we always do. So I'm
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  Speaker 2: excited to see us tackle Georgetown this weekend and get
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  Speaker 2: some momentum going into the East tournament.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, when you get different players, you have
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  Speaker 1: to change your strategy. I remember even two years ago,
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  Speaker 1: you guys are running stealing bases like crazy. Although efficient,
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  Speaker 1: the numbers are down a little bit, but I mean
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  Speaker 1: they're still good. But it's not like years past, is it.
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  Speaker 2: No, definitely not. You know, we're not relying on the
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  Speaker 2: stolen base piece to manufacture runs. We're really relying on
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  Speaker 2: being a gritty offense, right, and it's more about the
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  Speaker 2: read on the bases and taking an extra base on
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  Speaker 2: the ball in the dirt or going first to third
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  Speaker 2: on a base hit. We've been working on that a
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  Speaker 2: lot this year and that being part of our offensive strategy.
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  Speaker 2: I think also just being being aggressive at a good
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  Speaker 2: pitch early. I know that sounds simple, but that's been
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  Speaker 2: effective for our offense this year. And also being able
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  Speaker 2: to just find a way on based right, whether that's
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  Speaker 2: a walkie of Caitlyn Kibling who's at the top of
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  Speaker 2: our lineup, who you know is is really close to
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  Speaker 2: the top and the big East and getting on based
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  Speaker 2: or on base percentages over five hundred, So you know,
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  Speaker 2: I think being able to not always rely on the
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  Speaker 2: stolen base or the home run or the double, just
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  Speaker 2: being a gritty offense and if the person in front
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  Speaker 2: of you doesn't get it done, taking what you learned
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  Speaker 2: from there at that and being able to do it
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  Speaker 2: for the team.
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  Speaker 1: Kat Pettis and Caitlin Breslin are your two big sticks offensively, Kat.
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  Speaker 1: I know from talking with Adam Jardino this weekend, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of intentional walks, a lot of pitching around her.
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  Speaker 1: How do you teach someone to stay patient when you
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  Speaker 1: have situations like that and still try to contribute.
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  Speaker 2: Sure, I think it's a matter of having a conversation
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  Speaker 2: with Kad and talking to her about why people are
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  Speaker 2: doing that. And you know, number one, it's a compliment
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  Speaker 2: to her. Number two, you know, I've said this multiple
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  Speaker 2: times to our team about how it's so important in
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  Speaker 2: our conference that you don't let the best hitter beat you,
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  Speaker 2: and that essentially is what Creighton was doing. They didn't
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  Speaker 2: want Cat Petis to change the outcome of the game
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  Speaker 2: with one swing. And you know, that's something that I
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  Speaker 2: actually talked through with her yesterday on the phone when
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  Speaker 2: she was nominated a Top ten shortstop by Softball America.
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  Speaker 2: And she's continuing to get Big East Awards weekly. You
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  Speaker 2: know that sixty feet is awesome for our offense. Like
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  Speaker 2: her being able to get on base for us, regardless
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  Speaker 2: of it as a walk or her hitting the ball
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  Speaker 2: over the fence, that matters, And it's a quality of that, right,
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  Speaker 2: keeping it process oriented and locking in on her having
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  Speaker 2: a quality at that for the team because the kid's
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  Speaker 2: a great hitter, like she wants to go up there
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  Speaker 2: and obviously change the game because she can, but also
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  Speaker 2: knowing that she has Caitlin Breslin and Hailey Kupol and
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  Speaker 2: Savannah Ring who's surround her in the lineup that you know,
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  Speaker 2: all of those kids and those core players at the
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  Speaker 2: top of the lineup are a key component to of
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  Speaker 2: us being successful as a team.
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  Speaker 1: Laurie, you mentioned Savannah Ring. She's one hundred points better.
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  Speaker 1: I mean she's taken a massive jump. Fifty eight hits
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  Speaker 1: the season alone. She had seventy eight combined her first
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  Speaker 1: three seasons at Yukon. What do you attribute to this
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  Speaker 1: massive jump.
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  Speaker 2: I'm so proud of that kid. I think that the
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  Speaker 2: main contributing factor for Savannah is she's had a mindset
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  Speaker 2: shift and you know, just being I know, you obviously
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  Speaker 2: have a baseball mind yourself, and how important it is
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  Speaker 2: as a hitter to be successful at the highest level
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  Speaker 2: of a competitive mindset in the sense of so what
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  Speaker 2: somebody got me out, or so what I swung in
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  Speaker 2: a bad pitch, or you know, so what I didn't
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  Speaker 2: get the pitch that I wanted to And her ability
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  Speaker 2: to step out, reset and really just embrace the fun
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  Speaker 2: of playing the sport that she loves. And you know
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  Speaker 2: she's she's obviously you watch the way she plays, and
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  Speaker 2: I talk about this all the time, how she has
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  Speaker 2: a chip on her shoulder, she has the swagger about
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  Speaker 2: Savannah uh and you'll actually see in between pitches she
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  Speaker 2: is talking to herself like she's talking out loud to
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  Speaker 2: herself about what she wants to do. And that just
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  Speaker 2: tells me that she's in the best place mentally as
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  Speaker 2: a hitter. So, I mean, I know, those weren't any
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  Speaker 2: physical things. She's obviously made a couple of physical adjustments
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  Speaker 2: to her swing. She put in a tremendous amount of
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  Speaker 2: work over the summer to make an adjustment with her
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  Speaker 2: swing pattern and the way that she moves, which has
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  Speaker 2: really contributed to her success. But I would say overall,
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  Speaker 2: I'm most proud of the girls She's had offensively in
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  Speaker 2: her mindset, with her body language and the way that
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  Speaker 2: she responds to failure.
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  Speaker 1: You've got a couple of freshmen we're talking with Laura
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  Speaker 1: Valentino Yukon softball coach Ava Calasino and Emma Willards, who's
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  Speaker 1: a Texas girl fifty six hits, forty one ribi's combine
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  Speaker 1: everyday players. When did you get a sense that they
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  Speaker 1: would become everyday players and major contributors to this team.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, really, when I recruited them, I you know,
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  Speaker 2: bringing in this freshman class, I knew how impactful they
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  Speaker 2: were going to be. And watching Ava play the first
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  Speaker 2: time that I saw her, I mean, she has this
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  Speaker 2: passion about the way that she approaches the game. Her
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  Speaker 2: hustle is it's just a standout factor about her. She
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  Speaker 2: is sprinting everywhere she goes. She plays the game extremely hard,
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  Speaker 2: She's quick, she hits the ball hard. She's obviously hitting
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  Speaker 2: from the left side. And you know, she also has
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  Speaker 2: this way about her when she steps in the box.
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  Speaker 2: She is smiling like she's so excited to compete, with
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  Speaker 2: a husky uniform on and I feel that grad gratitude
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  Speaker 2: from her every single day that I coach her. So
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  Speaker 2: to me that those are the summ of the it
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  Speaker 2: factors that Ava brings that make her successful as a
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  Speaker 2: freshman right off the bat. And I'll tell you about Emma.
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  Speaker 2: So one of the first times that I saw Emma live,
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  Speaker 2: she got on my radar from an email. I clicked
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  Speaker 2: on her link and I was I said to Coach Mac,
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  Speaker 2: I said, hey, take a look at this kid. Watch
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  Speaker 2: her swing, and tell me what you think. She stood
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  Speaker 2: out right away like a big power left the athletic
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  Speaker 2: and I ended up watching her for the first time
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  Speaker 2: in Colorado and Bob, I kid you not. The kid
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  Speaker 2: hit a ball that literally got over the fence in
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  Speaker 2: less than two seconds. And I called Coach Mac and
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  Speaker 2: I said, I just saw probably one of the hardest
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  Speaker 2: balls exit the field hit by Emma. So I just
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  Speaker 2: you know, that was something that really stood out to
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  Speaker 2: me about her, her raw power. And I know that
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  Speaker 2: we know how to develop our kids here, and I
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  Speaker 2: knew that we could not only have her help our lineup,
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  Speaker 2: you know from a power production, but we could also
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  Speaker 2: help her really reach her true feeling. And I really
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  Speaker 2: think that she's doing that right now.
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  Speaker 1: You had a big pair of shoes to fill behind
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  Speaker 1: the plate with Grace Jenkins who went to Arizona for
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  Speaker 1: the transfer portal. Hottie Barber has done a solid job
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  Speaker 1: behind the plate. Maybe not so much offensively, but boy,
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  Speaker 1: she gave you a big hit on Sunday. What's that
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  Speaker 1: progression been like for her? Maybe not knowing? Okay, I
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  Speaker 1: know she played behind Grace last year, but you can't
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  Speaker 1: replace what Grace did as one person. But how do
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  Speaker 1: you think she's handled everything this season knowing what she
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  Speaker 1: did have to replace?
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  Speaker 2: Sure, I am so proud of Heidi. I mean, I
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  Speaker 2: think it's a certain type of kid to be able
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  Speaker 2: to catch every game almost on the season, And she
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  Speaker 2: is such a unique kid in the sense of her
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  Speaker 2: softball IQ is just through the roof and she is
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  Speaker 2: a true student of the game. She's constantly talking softball,
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  Speaker 2: and that just is a joy to coach, especially from catcher.
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  Speaker 2: The battery, the kid that's back there at such a
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  Speaker 2: key component to the game, and she's had her fair
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  Speaker 2: share of adversity herself, and I think that she is
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  Speaker 2: a shining light to our battery. At the end of
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  Speaker 2: the season, I mean just seeing her come through. Not
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  Speaker 2: only does that take pressure off the top of your lineup,
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  Speaker 2: but to have her be a true swing dog. We
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  Speaker 2: talk about that a lot this year, and being able
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  Speaker 2: to bounce back and being able to make an adjustment
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  Speaker 2: is going to be a key component to this year's
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  Speaker 2: this team success down the stretch and a fear come
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  Speaker 2: up and take a hack at the first pitch and
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  Speaker 2: drive it through the left side. I'm so proud of her,
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  Speaker 2: so I can't say enough great things about her. I'm
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  Speaker 2: grateful to be her coach, and I think she's an
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  Speaker 2: an outstanding job behind the plate.
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  Speaker 1: Laura, the young ladies who are throwing to her from
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  Speaker 1: the circle, I know you have a fabulous freshman and
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  Speaker 1: a transfer from Providence that have made a big difference
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  Speaker 1: in helping this team get back to where you hope
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  Speaker 1: they would be.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I can't say enough about really the way that
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  Speaker 2: our pitching staff has embraced competing as a staff, and
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  Speaker 2: you really look at their arsenal and how different they
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  Speaker 2: each are and they command different different parts of the
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  Speaker 2: zone really really well, which just makes us hard to
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  Speaker 2: be and people don't know what to expect when they
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  Speaker 2: face us. As a pitching staff. I mean, Jessica Walter
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  Speaker 2: has been a great addition from Providence, you know, being
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  Speaker 2: at the banquet the other night and top about her
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  Speaker 2: and her being more than just a power pitcher. I
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  Speaker 2: mean she has taken tremendous pride in throwing her off
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  Speaker 2: speeds this year, and she just is a tremendous leader.
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  Speaker 2: She got our Karen Mullen's Leadership Awards this year and
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  Speaker 2: has the courage to speak up when it's hard and
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  Speaker 2: really leads not only by example but vocally out in
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  Speaker 2: the circle. And it's so it's a game changer to
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  Speaker 2: have a leader as a pitcher on a team. I
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  Speaker 2: think that it's something that has been such an asset
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  Speaker 2: to our team this year, especially with a lot of
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  Speaker 2: new and young in your in your pitching staff as well. Right,
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  Speaker 2: you have two sophomores, you have Sydney, you have Caprice
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  Speaker 2: as the freshman, and Alex Batcher as a transfer, you know,
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  Speaker 2: along with Stella and Ambers. So all of those kids
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  Speaker 2: look up to her tremendously and have taken something from her.
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  Speaker 2: So I would say she's definitely left an impact on
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  Speaker 2: yukon softball. Now.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I work with Rob Dibble, and he has
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: a show weekday afternoons, Big Baseball Guy, of course, Pitch
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: with the Red. One of his favorite interviews is Kevin
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Cernin from Ball nine. He's a long time New York
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: sports writer. Loves the game of baseball. We always talk
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: about over nerding the game of Major League Baseball, which
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  Speaker 1: I as an old guy myself, I agree with that.
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  Speaker 1: How much do you use analytics in the way you
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  Speaker 1: do things with your softball program?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's definitely a part of what we do.
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  Speaker 2: I'll talk a little bit about our offense. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they're using the hit tracks every day of practice. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I'm looking at the way that I prepare and again
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  Speaker 2: I would put our staff up against anybody in the country,
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  Speaker 2: but we're using the analytics piece to navigate what our
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: offensive plan is going to be, how we're changing our
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: pitching rotation or choosing who should be on the mound
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  Speaker 2: for what hitter. So it's definitely a part of the
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  Speaker 2: decisions that we're making and fueling our preparation going into
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  Speaker 2: the game weekend. But I think, you know, at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the day, a lot of it does come
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  Speaker 2: down to my gut and trusting my gut. I still
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  Speaker 2: think that's important, you know, when it comes to the
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: game being on the line and what you want to
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: do and when that decision needs to be made. But
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  Speaker 2: I will say that it's something that does go a
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  Speaker 2: lot into our preparation as a staff.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, top four teams in Chicago, Providence, creating Yukon Butler.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's six teams though, right they go to Chicago,
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  Speaker 1: it's four four year Okay, so those are your four teams.
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  Speaker 1: I know you. You lost two out of three to Providence,
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  Speaker 1: You beat Creighton two out of three. How'd you do
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  Speaker 1: against Butler?
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  Speaker 2: We swept Butler. So that was a fun series. We
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: actually were down one nothing in the bottom of the
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  Speaker 2: seventh and with two outs, Heidi walked and then Caitlyn
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  Speaker 2: Kibling hit a triple in the gap to tie the
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: game with two outs, and then Savannah En came up
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: and hit a squibbler like I would like to say,
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  Speaker 2: off the bat on a change up and it kicked
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: off the pitcher's glove and we scored the go ahead
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  Speaker 2: run with two outs. So it was an exciting finish
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  Speaker 2: to the series and we ended up sleeping them.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, nothing like a swinging butt with a
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  Speaker 1: little English on it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, as always, Laura, I appreciate a few minutes with
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  Speaker 1: you of your time. Best of luck, not only this
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  Speaker 1: weekend in DC the wrap up the regular season, but
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: also in Chicago and perhaps we'll catch up somewhere down
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  Speaker 1: the road.
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  Speaker 2: Awesome, Thanks so much, Bob and go Husky's. We'll see you,
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: hopefully maybe for our selection show in the Blue Line Club.