The day continues to get closer until Allegheny softball takes the field for another season of action. Just over a week away, opening day is set for March 3 against Concordia College.
The first quarter of the season will be played in Clermont, Florida, as the Gators begin the year on their annual spring trip. It is a chance for players to make a desirable impression in a different swamp, and everyone is excited to get the ball rolling.
“This is the strongest team we’ve had in the last 12 years that I’ve been here,” said head coach Beth Curtiss.
Taking over at the helm for the 2013 campaign, Curtiss and company put together one of their best seasons during her tenure last year. Binding together a 24-12 record, Allegheny made the conference tournament for the first time since 2018.
Despite losing both contests in the double-elimination tournament, it showed a monumental change from the 4-18 record held after the 2021 season.
“Right now we’re at a good place with culture,” Curtiss said. “There’s a lot of players within this program that want to continue to see it go to new heights. The players that we’re recruiting, the players that are currently here, the new additions, they all have been exposed this year to what it is that we want. We want to win the PAC, we want to go to the postseason — these players within the program, they really want to go to the NCAA tournament, and not just experience it but also compete.”
An emphasis on a growing mindset was instilled as soon as last year’s affairs came to a close.
Players believed they were burnt out, leading to their downfall come postseason play. They knew a different method was needed, and began working on the development of mental toughness.
“‘Max Out Mindset,’ we read that as a group together over (Christmas) break,” Curtiss said. “It works a lot on what it takes to be able to max out as far as the physical but also mental.”
Players have grown closer throughout this process, according to senior captain Hadley Horensky, ’24. A four-year starter for the Gators, she has been vital in communication and bringing everyone together.
She recalled a Friday night after practice when the team ordered pizza and conversed for hours in the Henderson Campus Center.
“We spoke about what we wanted our goals to be this year,” Horensky said. “And, the values that we were really holding onto, and what we want for our foundation of the team.”
Many of the players competed in summer leagues to work on their crafts, including Horensky. Signing up with the Pittsburgh Power, she saw action alongside other Presidents’ Athletic Conference softball athletes, including two friends, Lauren Harris of Grove City College and Emma Bliss of Waynesburg University.
The trio goes back to high school. Harris’ father was the head coach of their travel ball team since 14U.
Staying close throughout the years, Horensky, Harris and Bliss get to develop their skills together and get an idea of the competition they will face in the spring.
Also getting after her fundamentals this summer was Sophia Godzak, ’24. The junior stud earned First Team All-PAC honors last season, fishing top-ten in the conference in walks, doubles and on-base percentage.
“(My) dad and I put in a lot of work refining my swing, getting myself prepared for this new season,” Godzak said. “Last year, we didn’t end on the note we wanted. More personally, I didn’t end on the note I wanted to, so I knew I had to put in a lot of work.”
Godzak has been working at third base throughout the preseason, a position she is unfamiliar with. Coming in as primarily a first baseman, playing the other side of the diamond has been a challenge.
She is still confident that her preparation will pay off. Curtiss has been blasting ground balls to her at the “hot corner,” and Godzak has gloved a ton of reps.
Although only in her third year, she will play in her final season. Godzak will be toting her robes early and plans to attend graduate school in the Pittsburgh area after this semester.
“This whole offseason has reminded me how much love I have for the game of softball. It’s really hitting me that it’s going to be my last one. I’ve just been enjoying practice, and having fun and laughing. I’m gonna go out with a bang and make it the best I can.”
The Gators goal has been set, and a PAC Championship would be Allegheny’s first conference title since 2013.
