Dom Amore: How UConn softball handled the blows and clawed back to the NCAA Tournament

After an 11-game winning streak, the Huskies were in contention for the regular season title, which they eventually shared with Providence with an 18-6 record. Over last weekend in Rosemont, Ill., the Huskies won three of four games, Walter taking the ball for the decider against Creighton, to capture the Big East’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

On Sunday night, they all gathered again at Toscano Family Ice Forum’s Blue Line Club to celebrate and watch selection show, and learned they would play at Texas A&M on Friday at 2 p.m.

“That (Arkansas series) really taught our team to lean on each other, lean on the players on and off the field, 1 through 21,” senior Haley Coupal said, “and how gritty and tough we are and how we have to play with absolutely zero fear, zero hesitancy. Who cares if it’s a big stadium? It’s just another softball team. That taught us a lot about who we are.”

Coach Laura Valentino, as the slogan indicates, used her whole roster of 21 players, including six different pitchers, led by Walter (8-8, 3.31 ERA) and Caprice Bohmer (13-9, 3.92), each contributing their skill set to make the whole unit play greater than the sum of its parts. The Huskies are hitting .292 as a team, with a .392 on-base percentage. They’ve out-homered opponents 57-30, but stole 68 bases in 77 tries, led by Kibling (14 for 15) and Ava Calciano, .439 on-base, 10 steals in 11 tries. Savannah Ring, one of the seniors, is hitting .342.

“Coming off last year, we knew we were going to have a lot of young people coming in and it wasn’t going to be the same team,” Ring said. “Our coaches knew that, we knew that. We kept the same core values and we kept the same standards, and our standards are very high, but we knew we were going to be a whole different offense, we had a whole different skill set and we used to our advantage.”

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Big East player of the year, sophomore shortstop Cat Petteys, is hitting .397 with 19 homers and 58 RBI in 57 games, and went 4-for-5 with a home run in the conference clincher Saturday. Junior outfielder Kaitlyn Breslin had 11 homers and 56 RBI. Freshman Emma Willers hit two homers in the tournament win over Butler on Friday.

Walter pitched two complete-game victories over Creighton and was named most outstanding player of the conference tournament.

“Jessica Walter, it’s really special when you have leadership in the circle and that willingness to speak up,” Valentino said. “I still get chills watching her celebrate this. … Then you have the other three seniors who are playing their best softball in their last year. Savannah Ring, putting work in to grow her swing, super proud of that kid. Kaitlyn Kibling is by far the best centerfielder I’ve ever coached. She is a hustle kid, when nobody’s watching she’s working in the cages and bringing a teammate with her, and she’s sprinting out to centerfield because it matters, it’s going to help her track down a ball. And then Haley Coupal, talk about a clutch hitter playing her best softball in the middle of our lineup. All those kids, gritty, competitive, hard workers, that’s why we’re here today.”

The Huskies, 8-21 after getting swept at Arkansas, have won 23 of their last 28 games. A year ago, UConn lost to Nebraska and LSU in the Regional at Baton Rouge. On Friday, the Huskies go to College Station, where Texas A&M (57-16) is the 15th seed among 16 Regional hosts. The Aggies were eliminated by Auburn in the SEC Tournament, but the conference has 12 teams in the field of 64, including six of the top eight seeds.

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“The returners are motivated to go to a Regional and compete and win,” Valentino said, “and who says UConn can’t come out  the winner? We’re happy, we’re excited, it’s a privilege and an honor, but we’re going there to compete.”

Valentino, 207-127 since taking over the program in 2020, credits AD David Benedict and executive associate AD Jessica Chrabaszcz with helping her navigate the offseason roster reconstruction. Softball is a sport where UConn can be at a disadvantage, where power conference schools can afford to pour in more resources to target impact players.

“College athletics is changing,” Valentino said, “and to be able to still have winning championships be the standard and still expect that might happen, while still being able to develop your players and find a way to win … obviously money is a component in college athletics now, but what I still believe to this day is, an experience can never be matched by money. What we give our players here is an experience in growth in their character, life lessons, having friends for the rest of their lives that they win championships with. And that relationship piece, I think is unmatched.”