William Jewell College’s Softball team is off to a slow start, but they still remain optimistic about the future. The Cardinals faced tough competition the past two weekends at the Lewis Dome Invitational and Drury Invitational Tournaments. 

After three losses the first weekend, Jewell battled back against Wisconsin Parkside for a 6-5 win. The Cardinals were down early in the Parkside game, but senior Allison Rawls helped the team make a comeback. Rawls – who is dedicating her senior season to her dad who recently lost his battle with cancer – hit the first grand slam of her collegiate career, putting the Cardinals in a position to win the game. The following weekend at Drury ended 0-4, leaving the Cardinals with an overall record of 1-7. 

There are many factors that affected the team’s record. Because COVID-19 limited their season, this was their first time seeing live at-bats and playing together as a team. COVID-19 has also impacted how personal the team is with each other since the team cannot gather as a group outside of practices and many of the players are first-years still getting used to the team and level of competition. 

“Normally we are super close by the time the season rolls around because we’re able to do a lot of activities both inside and outside of softball,” said Rawls. 

Despite a losing record, the team remains optimistic about the rest of the season. 

“I’m super excited for the rest of the season even though we’ve had a rough start,” Payton Totzke, sophomore said. “I’ve already seen so much progress and improvement of the team these past few games. We’re keeping our heads up and staying together knowing we will get better for the next few weeks!” 

Team unity remains an important factor for the team. 

 “For us, it’s important to stick together and have each other’s backs as we continue throughout our season. As a whole, we are very optimistic about how our season will go and look forward to getting better for our upcoming conference games,” Makenzie Stahl, first-year nursing major, said.

Win or lose, these women are excited to have the opportunity to play the sport they love. 

“I am so grateful that I’m able to finish my softball career this year. When our season got canceled last year I was devastated and worried about what this year would hold,” senior elementary education major Tori Farr said. “I’m taking advantage of every opportunity because now more than ever, I see how easily the game can be taken away from you.” 

The Cardinals begin conference play this weekend with a double-header at UCM March 7 and another at Drury March 12.

Head coach Dustin Combs says the team has been working on focus and forming a strong community.

“This year we have really focused on every detail of the game and working with intent. We have emphasized our culture and team chemistry. The work ethic overall has been really good in all aspects of preparing for this season,” said Combs.

He sees this year’s team chemistry as the biggest change from prior years.

“Without question the biggest change is this team truly cares about each other, the coaches and William Jewell College,” said Combs. “They have real energy and are having fun.”

Junior business administration major Anna Biondo is the leading pitcher with a record of 5-1 and a .83 Earned Run Average. She agrees with Combs’ ideas about focus and team chemistry.

“I think that our overall mentality and focus is really there this year. We have great team chemistry amongst all of the girls, which is a huge factor as to why we have done so well so far. I think that with everyone being all-in and wanting to win has really affected our season,” said Biondo.  

Senior business administration, accounting and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major Madison Giles is currently leading the team in runs, hits and doubles. She says this team has a high-energy culture.

“This year’s team is different than other years with our energy,” she said. “We work hard to have real energy in every game and every inning…it always gets us excited about our games when our fans have high energy as well,” said Giles.

Giles attributes the team’s successful start to the off-season work done by Combs and assistant softball coach Jeff Bower, as well as the work of strength and conditioning coach Gage Rosier and strength and conditioning graduate assistant Miles Clifton. She hopes the team will continue having successes throughout the season.

“We as seniors have been playing together for at least four years and have grown together to become a tight knit group of teammates. I would love for our senior class to go out with a bang and for all of us to have a successful season,” said Giles.

Combs emphasizes that the team’s success doesn’t stem from the success of individual players.

“Really there’s been someone different step up in every game that we’ve won this season,” said Combs. “We have had some really good pitching performances and gotten the big hits. We have had really good energy and that has won us some games when we weren’t at our best offensively.”

Looking forward, Combs hopes to make it past the post-season and the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament. To do this, the team has to perform well both conference games and keep performing well in both conference and non-conference games. All their games so far have been non-conference.

“We have to continue getting better every day. Our schedule is loaded. We have to continue to believe in each other and stay selfless,” said Combs.

The team begins conference play with their next game March 11 against Lewis University in Clermont, Fla.

Photo courtesy of Northern Illinois Athletics