10 — Wednesday, March 8, 2023
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Zach Edwards: Tholl sets goals high in
first year, but they might be too high
Michigan
coach
Bon-
nie Tholl is no
stranger to the
Michigan soft-
ball team. And
with that famil-
iarity,
Tholl
understands
the legacy and
prowess of the
program
—
along with the disappointment
of early playoff exits in recent
years.
Before
the
season
began,
Tholl proclaimed her Oklahoma
City mindset — the mindset that
revolves
around
approaching
everyday with the inclination of
reaching that final destination
in Oklahoma City, home of the
Women’s College World Series.
“There’s not much air at the
top of the mountain,” Tholl said
Feb. 6. “That’s why very few peo-
ple get there. But that’s always
what we’re shooting for and so
we’re not going to make excuses
for why we’re not succeeding
on the field. We’re going to find
a way. And if it doesn’t happen
tomorrow we’re gonna work
for it until it happens and we’re
going to keep our standards
high.”
The expectation has always
been to make it to the Women’s
College World Series, but the Wol-
verines have not matched that
expectation since 2016. And it’s
safe to wonder if — given the cur-
rent state of the program — Tholl
set the expectations too high.
Tholl has worked as assistant
coach, associate head coach,
recruiting coordinator and now
head coach in her 29 years with
Michigan — serving as associ-
ate head coach for 20 years. And
while a transition to a new head
coach could put the Wolverines
in a rebuilding year following,
Tholl has made it clear that the
expectations haven’t changed.
But maybe they should.
Michigan is only returning 11
of the 20 players on the roster,
giving Tholl a tall task of put-
ting together a team capable of
reaching Oklahoma City. How-
ever, having served as recruit-
ing coordinator in recent years,
Tholl had a large say in bringing
the new faces.
One of the biggest holes Tholl
had to fill was in the circle. Mich-
igan lost nearly all of its pitching
productivity
following
right-
hander Alex Storoko’s transfer.
The Wolverines also lost two of
its best hitters in outfielder Kris-
tina Burkhardt and catcher Han-
nah Carson.
Although the absence of these
players might seem ominous,
even these star players were
unable to make it to Oklahoma
City in their Michigan carrers.
And so far this year, many of the
same issues still remain.
One persistent problem from
the last few years has been pro-
duction from the batter’s box.
Especially when competing
against high caliber teams in
pre-conference
tournaments,
Michigan has struggled to get its
offense going. The Wolverines
have tallied five home runs and
conceded 16 to their opponents
thus far. And while home runs
aren’t everything, when severely
outmatched in that category, it
becomes much harder to make
up ground.
Despite allowing 16 home runs
this season, one bright spot has
been pitching. Sophomore right-
hander Lauren Derkowsi and
transfer junior right-hander Jes-
sica LeBeau, have proved crucial
to Michigan’s success — with
much credit also going to long
time assistant and pitching coach
Jennifer Brundage.
In order for the Wolverines to
succeed, they will need to main-
tain Derkowski and LeBeau’s
consistency while also fixing
their problems in the batter’s box
that have been a constant over
the past few years.
So far this season, the Wolver-
ines have played seven ranked
opponents including No. 2 UCLA
and No. 3 Oklahoma State. All
these games have ended in the
losing column for Michigan, all
due to lack of offense.
In the games the Wolverines
have won, they have not been due
to improvement on offense, but
rather with strength on defense.
Against Cal Fullerton and UCF,
where both teams were similar
competitively to Michigan, the
Wolverines won in defensive
showdowns. While there have
been minor improvements in the
beginning of the season, Michi-
gan will need to improve its bat-
ting all the way down the roster
in order to stand a chance against
the top teams in the country and
especially to make it to Oklaho-
ma City.
“We’re going to be a team that
has to take risks,” Tholl said Feb.
19. “Especially when you’re fac-
ing high caliber opponents. We
need to take some risks, because
maybe we’re playing opponents
that had more firepower offen-
sively, and they could hit the ball
over the fence, but what we can
do really well is run bases and
make good on the opportunities
that they gave us.”
Tholl is inadvertently reveal-
ing the flaw of her team. Teams
that compete at the highest level
and make the Women’s Col-
lege World Series have offen-
sive firepower. The Wolverines
don’t. And if the batting does not
improve drastically, the risks
they take will be the only spark
their stagnant offense has.
While the Wolverines may
not have fared up quite as well
as they wanted to so far in pre-
conference tournaments, the
most important part is to learn
and improve for when it does
matter. Michigan went into
pre-conference games with the
mindset that success and fail-
ure early on is not the end all
be all.
But
soon,
success
will
become much more important.
Moving into the last few pre-
conference games, the Wolver-
ines will have to improve upon
what they’ve learned in the
first few months of the Tholl
era. After 20 games, splitting
the win and loss column, Mich-
igan will have to continue its
improvement on the offensive
end to stand a chance in the
Big Ten let alone competing
against the best teams in the
nation.
“We knew it was going to be
a growing year,” Tholl said Feb.
26. “We think we have the tal-
ent to have a successful year
and so no goals have changed.
We’re early in the season. We
have a lot of games to play,
a lot of getting better to do,
and a lot of success to be had.
We’re going to tighten up that
defense, be consistent in the
circle and find ways to manu-
facture runs and that’s going to
continue to be our focus.”
Improvement is easier said
than done. The Wolverines
kept games close with oppo-
nents similar to them and beat
most teams when they had
more
athleticism.
However,
consistency on offense and
helping the pitchers on defense
is a must if Michigan wants
to compete with teams better
than them.
Realistically, the Wolverines
are in their first year under
a new head coach and have a
lineup full of new faces. With
those two facts alone you would
think a rebuild is more than
necessary, but for Tholl, this
year is more of a refuel. Know-
ing the legacy of the program,
it begs the question: Is there
really a chance for Michigan to
make it to the Women’s College
World Series? Or are the expec-
tations unrealistically high?
The Wolverines will have
to prove that they improve
dramatically upon their early
struggles or they will experi-
ence the same outcome that
ended the last seven years: a
regional exit. And the Okla-
homa City mindset will remain
just that — a mindset and not an
expectation.
SOFTBALL
JEREMY WEINE/Daily
‘Finding the positives in a game of
failure’: Amanda Chidester’s road to
the Olympics and beyond
TASMIA JAMIL
Daily Sports Writer
With anticipation mounting each
second and the cheers from the
bullpen echoing through an empty
stadium at the 2020 Tokyo Olym-
pics, Amanda Chidester stepped up
to the batter’s box for Team USA in
a close 1-0 game — fulfilling a life-
long dream. But that moment was
almost taken away from her.
Following the 2019 selection tri-
als, Chidester eagerly waited for a
glance at the initial USA softball
roster for the Olympics. After seven
years of competing for Team USA
and spending a lifetime in softball,
it all came down to this moment. It
was Chidester’s first opportunity to
participate in the Olympics.
But when the roster was released
in January 2019, Chidester couldn’t
find her name on it.
Although Chidester was a two-
time All-American with multiple
Women’s World Championships
and World Cup experiences, her
exemplary resume wasn’t enough.
From playing at high-level interna-
tional tournaments to being placed
on the Elite Team — Team USA’s
“B” team — in 2018 before being cut,
her career took an abrupt turn.
For Chidester, it was a wake-up
call.
“It was the most soul-crushing
thing,” Chidester told The Daily.
“But (it was) the best thing that
could have ever happened to my
life. … It made me take ownership
and make changes.”
As someone who has embraced
the
challenge
throughout
her
career, Chidester turned her rejec-
tion into motivation. With one last
tryout left before the roster was
finalized, she started an introspec-
tive journey to understand what
was lacking in her performance and
implement changes to her routine.
All to ultimately secure a spot on
the roster.
And as Michigan’s new assistant
coach this season, Chidester is mak-
ing self-reflection and the ability to
respond in the midst of adversity —
the mindset that eventually made
her an Olympic silver medalist — a
norm for the Wolverines.
***
Growing up in Michigan with
two older brothers who were both
athletes, sports became an inte-
gral part of Chidester’s upbringing.
Whether it was playing tee ball,
catching with her dad, or playing
basketball in the backyard with
her brothers, Chidester was always
ready for competition.
“From the time that she was two,
she was playing tee ball and she
would be just so fired up,” Aman-
da’s dad, Brian Chidester, told The
Daily. “Other kids were just run-
ning around the field, but she was
just fired up about competing and
winning.”
That passion only grew with
time, transforming Amanda into a
tri-sport athlete — playing softball,
volleyball and basketball — through
high school and receiving All-State
honors in each. In her sophomore
year, though, Amanda made soft-
ball her priority and became the
face of the program.
After leading Cabrini
High
School to back-to-back Michi-
gan state championships with her
offensive talents and team-first
mentality, Amanda’s approach to
the game didn’t change. She found
room for improvement every time
she stepped on the field.
“(Amanda) never liked to lose, ”
Cabrini High School’s former soft-
ball coach Debbie Norman told The
Daily. “Even in drills, she’d always
go ‘Give me one more!’. She made
it special for her teammates but
she never put herself higher than
them.”
Amanda’s internal drive to refine
her skills only developed further
under the mentorship of former
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
during Amanda’s time as a Wolver-
ine.
***
When Amanda first arrived at
Michigan in 2009, she was one of
just three freshmen on the team.
But immediately, she found herself
in the starting lineup.
In her first game, Amanda start-
ed as the designated player — a posi-
tion where experience is preferred.
And experience was abundant on
that softball team, but Amanda
never let her own lack of it hinder
her performance. She ended her
first weekend with six RBIs and
validated Hutchins’ trust in her.
Although
Amanda’s
perfor-
mance highlighted her offensive
abilities, it was a glimpse into her
versatility. With aggressive base
running and influencing the game
as a catcher at times, that made her
potential apparent to Hutchins and
the rest of the coaching staff.
“(Amanda) was a perfect prolific
offensive player and she was going
to bring that power to the lineup
every single day,” Michigan coach
Bonnie Tholl said. “But she was also
a jack of all trades.”
To start her freshman season,
Amanda fit into the designated
player and catcher with ease. Soon
though, she was forced to extend
her comfort zone to play outfielder,
infielder, second baseman, third
baseman, and eventually first base-
man by her senior year.
“(Hutchins) pushed me past lim-
its that I knew existed inside of me,”
Amanda said. “She helped me real-
ize there’s always more in the tank
and made me want to get more out
of myself.”
While each position on the field
has its array of skill sets with mini-
mal overlap, Hutchins believed
Amanda had the ability to enhance
each of those skills — a difficult task
for any player. But Amanda didn’t
shy away from the challenge.
“(Amanda’s) goal was learn
something and to get better pitch to
pitch,” former Michigan left-hand-
er Nikki Cortis told The Daily. “She
could see the positives in a game of
failure.”
Although she didn’t instantly
shine at each role she was tasked
to play, as a competitor and a team
player her entire career, Amanda
was willing to take risks and learn
from mistakes to adapt as the Wol-
verines needed.
“She played every position with
maturity and never complained,”
Cortis said. “And when she messed
up, you couldn’t be mad at her
because you knew she was con-
stantly trying to get better.”
Whether it was at the plate with
her hitting or fielding with her
physicality, Amanda wanted to be
the best version of herself to help
her teammates and impact win-
ning.
“(Amanda) was destined for
greatness and excitement,” Tholl
said. “She brought that energy, that
excitement every single day.”
Despite ending her collegiate
career with only one College World
Series appearance in 2009, Amanda
was part of a more than .700 win-
ning percentage team through-
out her four years, tallying 200
RBIs and just twenty-six fielding
errors across 231 games. She left
an imprint on the program as her
offensive metrics rank high among
school history records.
And the program left an indel-
ible mark on Amanda. Her passion
for the game, combined with
Hutchins’ guidance, evolved her
perception of softball, making her
an ultimate competitor.
“I approached the game with
big goals, big dreams,” Amanda
said. “I always set high goals for
myself and show up every single
day to give it my all.”
But as she left Michigan, those
goals didn’t disappear. Instead,
they broadened and she set her
sight on the Olympics. That road
to the Olympics, however, was full
of obstacles.
Following her time as a Wol-
verine, Amanda participated in
multiple international tourna-
ments for Team USA before tak-
ing an assistant coach position at
Duke in 2016 — a job with more
stability — while continuing her
training.
However, that stability didn’t
seem to matter when the Interna-
tional Olympics Committee voted
to bring back softball for the 2020
Tokyo Games. Amanda couldn’t
keep herself away from the oppor-
tunity to compete.
All of Amanda’s professional
career was geared toward the
Olympics, but in 2019, it all began
to unravel when she was cut from
the team.
“A pretty devastating moment
in our whole family’s life,” Brian
said. “We’ve just never expected
that to happen but (for her) there
was no pity party.”
With one more tryout and a
final chance to earn her spot,
Amanda knew she had to be at
her best to stand out among the
rest, and that would require some
adjustments.
After
communicating
with
her coaches, including Okla-
homa’s Patty Gasso and Team
USA’s coach for the summer of
2018, four-time Olympian Laura
Berg, Amanda identified what
the adjustments would entail. She
began to focus on her conditioning
— incorporating rigorous workout
routines, changing her diet, and
prioritizing her mental health to
enhance her performance.
As Amanda continued her
training, she decided to join the
Chicago Bandits in National Pro
Fastpitch (NPF) to test herself at
the professional level. In her first
and only season in the NPF, she
won the NPF Player of the Year
award and compiled a .374 hitting
average, leading the Bandits to a
championship series.
Amanda’s training and resil-
ience through the process paid off
when she qualified for the Olym-
pics in October 2019. But soon the
COVID-19 pandemic presented
another hurdle. The uncertainty
and fear that the games might
be canceled overwhelmed the
thoughts of many Olympic ath-
letes, including Amanda. Being
a late addition to the team, the
rescheduling of the games to 2021
was a relief for Amanda, allowing
her to develop some chemistry
before heading into play.
“She turned her ‘failure’ into
fuel for her to be able to succeed,”
Team USA outfielder Hailey
McClenney told The Daily. “She
played her best when she needed
to play her best.”
In the opening round of the
Olympics, Amanda made her
presence evident in the pressure-
filled moments. Down 1-0 in extra
innings against Australia, Aman-
da stepped into the batter’s box
with poise, roping a ground ball
to the outfield for a walk-off, two-
run single to secure Team USA’s
spot in the finals.
SOFTBALL
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ZACH
EDWARDS