Kentucky shortstop Erin Coffel added a wide range of positives to her life within the 2022 season: 1st Group All-Southeastern Convention honors, simply the sixth All-American nod in UK program historical past, and a golden retriever named Jack.
Juggling caring for a pet with school tasks is a critical enterprise, say nothing of doing in order among the finest softball gamers in America with designs on a Ladies’s Faculty World Collection.
“I can’t do it with out my buddies’ assist,” Coffel mentioned. “I dwell with Kayla Kowalik and Steph [Stephanie] Schoonover, and with out them, I actually do not assume it will be potential.”
Jack, who Coffel mentioned grew to become a part of the family final season throughout Regionals, has been “superb for our psychological and emotional well being.” That infectious good vibe inherent with proudly owning a canine serves as a becoming parallel for the power Coffel describes surrounding the 2023 Kentucky staff.
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“I feel this staff is fairly particular,” she mentioned. “We’re a brand new staff, and we get alongside very nicely on and off the sector.”
Coming off a 37-win marketing campaign in 2022, the Wildcats head into 2023 trying to construct from a end in final spring’s Regionals. Coach Rachel Lawson oversees a roster that replaces some key contributors, together with Lauren Johnson, Tatum Spangler and Renee Abernathy, however retains a stable corps of returners.
Chief among the many corps is Coffel, who had a monster season on the plate: .423 batting common, an .871 slugging share, 20 dwelling runs to tie for Thirteenth-most within the nation. Her offensive efficiency was greater than sufficient to justify the All-American recognition. For Coffel personally, nonetheless, her protection was some extent of emphasis.
“Beginning as a freshman within the SEC just isn’t a straightforward job, not a straightforward problem. However I felt like I kinda let my teammates down in a means [as a freshman in 2021], the way in which I performed defensively and the way in which I let every play have an effect on my recreation if I made an error or one thing like that,” she mentioned. “That’s the sport of softball, you’re going to make errors, however I simply didn’t need to have that feeling once more.”
Coffel batted .337 as a freshman and belted 16 dwelling runs — a becoming introduction to the school recreation for the holder of Indiana’s state file for many round-trippers. However she went into 2022 in search of to chop down on the 17 errors she dedicated the season prior, and delivered with 12 as a sophomore.
Enhancing her defensive efficiency additional in 2023 guarantees to make probably the most fearsome hitters within the recreation certainly one of its most all-around harmful gamers this yr. And in pursuit of a visit to the WCWS, Coffel can have loads of assist — together with from Kowalik and Schoonover.
Schoonover struck out a team-high 68 in 23 appearances final season, pitched 4 full video games and restricted opponents to a .242 batting common. Kowalik joined Coffel as a 1st Group All-SEC and All-American honoree, batting .420 and stealing a team-best 17 bases.
The veterans be part of an inflow of younger expertise, with Kentucky’s 2022 signing class ranked No. 11 nationally by Further Innings Softball. It is a group that features Lauryn Borzilleri, Further Innings Softball’s Fifteenth-ranked prospect; Chelsea Mack, the No. 19-ranked prospect of this yr’s freshman class; and No. 22-ranked Karissa Hamilton.
“We’ve quite a lot of power as a staff,” Coffel mentioned. “We simply have enjoyable collectively. It is new, it is one thing I have never felt earlier than with one other staff…Our power, it is in contrast to something I’ve ever performed with.”
Whether or not it is taking Jack on walks or trotting the bases getting on bases earlier than a home-run blast, Erin Coffel has loads of assist and no scarcity of fine vibes from her Kentucky teammates.
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