Hutchins Discusses Main Ingredients to 2018 Wolverine Softball Team
2/6/2018 11:39:00 AM | Softball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan softball head coach Carol Hutchins cannot wait to get going on a new season. She said she has felt that way since October, and has been working for five months with her Wolverines pointing toward this weekend's tournament at the University of South Florida.
Hutchins noted that this has been a harsher winter than the previous one and most practices have come indoors. But it has allowed her and long-time assistants Bonnie Tholl and Jennifer Brundage and volunteer assistant Alex Lagesse good opportunities to work on the physical and mental sides of the game, while gauging where each player is developmentally headed into Friday's (Feb. 9) season-opening games with Alabama-Birmingham and Georgia State. The Wolverines face the University of Florida, which finished No. 2 last year, and the host Bulls on Saturday, and finish Sunday with Illinois State.
Much has changed since 2017, a rare season in which Michigan did not hang a Big Ten championship banner or visit Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series after two consecutive trips and a second-place finish in 2015. Three-year pitching ace Megan Betsa is gone along with outfielder Kelly Christner, shortstop Abby Ramirez and third baseman Lindsay Montemarano.
But there are two All-Americans back -- first baseman/pitcher Tera Blanco and second baseman Faith Canfield -- along with some emerging returning players. A talented group of incoming freshmen is led by highly recruited pitcher Meghan Beaubien (Newport, Michigan / St. Mary-Catholic Central).
Hutchins is college softball's winningest coach with 1,527 victories. She has won the 2005 CAA championship, been to the World Series a dozen times and 25 NCAA Tournaments, won 19 Big Ten regular-season championships and nine conference tournament titles.
It's been a marvelous 33 seasons as head coach, and Wolverine athletic director Warde Manuel rewarded her in October with a five-year contract extension.
We spoke Monday (Feb. 5) in her office, faithful golden retriever Marley resting on the carpet by her side, about the Wolverines and the tournaments in Florida (Tampa and Boca Raton), Texas, California and Ohio before the Alumni Field home opener March 21 with Central Michigan and the Big Ten opener two days later at Iowa.
Q: What does your contract extension mean to you?
A:Â Well, you don't take anything for granted. I worked a lot of years without a contract, and didn't get my first contract until 2007. I worked year-to-year at the pleasure of the athletic director as an appointment. First of all, you're just grateful that the administration has stepped up and said you're important and your staff's important and what you've done is meaningful to the university. You don't feel taken for granted.
But we have a lot of work to do. It doesn't change how I approach every day. But I'm grateful to Warde.
Q: You've lost Megan Betsa, but now have Meghan Beaubien in the circle. She was a three-time All-American and the 2017 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year. She went 100-11, struck out 1,442 and had a 0.29 ERA as a senior. And she also was class valedictorian. Tell us about going from Megan to Meghan.
A: Yeah, if we call everybody the same name, it's easier for me at my age (laughter) to know what to call them. I've been here 34 years, and every year we've lost key people. So, every year you have to find a new identity with new people. Every fall, it's like a blooming plant, and now we're starting to bloom.
With that said, we're very excited about Meghan Beaubien. We have been since the day she committed to us, which was a long time ago (before she threw a pitch in high school, according to the Monroe Evening News). She's an elite athlete, and we think she was a big-time recruit. But you're only big-time if you show up on campus and produce. You can be a five-star recruit and it doesn't mean anything. We're hoping she's a five-star player, and she's shown a lot of signs of it.
Wolverine pitcher Meghan Beaubien
She's mentally tough. She's really driven. She's driven to be successful. She'll be her own worst critic, and she's delightful to coach. She's a very bright kid. I'm excited to see what she brings to us. I have no doubt she's going to do her part. Meghan can't win the game. She can only keep us in the game.
Q: What do you expect from Tera Blanco (.288 with seven homers and 46 RBI as well as 18-3 with a 2.30 ERA) this season?
A: Tera's had one full year of playing that dual role for us. I hope she comes in as compelled and committed as she is at first base. I'd like to see that on the mound. She holds her own, but Tera can up her game. I've seen her working harder this year. I think she's really been engaged with mentoring the younger kids. We need her to set a presence on the mound more than anything. Tera has a great presence on the field when she's at first base, and I'd like to see that presence when she steps in the circle.
Q: Second baseman Faith Canfield (.398, nine homers, 40 RBIs and a team-high 56 runs, 72 hits and .652 slugging percentage) came along so nicely last year. What do you expect from her this season?
A: She's had a great preseason. She had a great fall. One of my younger kids asked me why I think Faith is a good hitter. I said that one of Faith's greatest qualities is her confidence. We need a lot from Faith. Her role is creating offense and creating runs and run opportunities. We need her to be a presence in that lineup. The one thing Romo (2016 National Player of the Year Sierra Romero) gave us, even if she didn't get a hit, was a presence in the lineup. She gave us all of those great at-bats, and the kids were confident in her.
What I ask for hitters like Faith and (right fielder/first baseman) Aidan Falk (.347, seven homers and a team-high 48 RBIs), who is having a great preseason and tearing it up, is to have a great presence in their at-bats. We need hitters who eat up pitches and help the rest of our lineup feel confident. Tera is one of those people as well. Offensively, I count on those three for a calming presence.
Q: You're going to have a new left side of the infield and a new center fielder. How are those positions looking?
A: If there's one thing we're not, it's settled in the lineup. We have a lot of unknowns. We're probably as unsettled as we've ever been going into a season. So, competition's on. Â
Second baseman Faith Canfield
Q: Katie Alexander (.260, four homers, 17 RBI) grabbed the catcher position last year. Is she set back there?
A: She's scheduled to be behind the plate, and has continued getting better. Her confidence is better. Her bat is better, and that's been an area that's been real inconsistent for her. She was huge in her development last year.
Who's going to show up in the games and get it done for us this year? A lot of it's going to be who's consistent at the plate. We're looking at (freshman) Natalia Rodriguez at shortstop. She's come on and had a great preseason. She's our best athlete and a developing lefty slapper. She's finding her game, and her game's pretty good. I am excited about her; I love her athleticism and it's something we need a little more of.
(Alex) Sobczak's been at third base quite a bit, along with Taylor Swearingen and (freshman) Taylor Bump. The whole left side's up for grabs. Bump also plays a nice shortstop and has been our most consistent probably there, but she's just been behind the curve offensively.
We have a lot of kids who can play (she also mentioned Madison Uden, Amanda Vargas, freshman pitcher Sarah Schaefer and injured freshman first baseman Lou Allan), but not having a set lineup doesn't help me sleep. But it could take us a while to determine who makes our best team and who competes for it. It's a competition, and in competition the cream rises to the top.
(Sophomore) Thais Gonzalez has really shown up for us in the outfield. She dives for balls, puts the ball in play and will get some looks for us.
Q: Are there any certainties in the outfield?
A: You'd say Natalie Peters (.361 with 48 starts) but she has not had a good preseason. That doesn't matter if she shows up when it matters, but we need her to start picking it up and being the player she's capable of.
She's without a doubt our best outfielder, but you have Haley Hoogenraad, who played a lot of innings for us as a defensive specialist. She works continuously on her offense. Courtney Richardson (.263 with 42 starts) -- again, more defensive than offensive. I'm searching for kids who can do both.
Q: Will Natalie probably play center?
A: Probably, but we have to have the ability when kids aren't performing to put other kids in and give them a chance. We'll play it game by game.
Q: When you mentioned third base, I thought about Montemarano, and the spirit she brought.
A: Who's going to give us that personality on the field? Those are things that evolve.
