With the NCAA Women’s College World Series kicking off yesterday, I wanted to share a special story that was sent to us by Brad Albers, dad of Elisabeth Albers from Hamlin Park Lions 10U team. Elisabeth’s grandmother, Cindy Albers, has an incredible softball legacy—she played in the very first Women’s College World Series in 1969!

Her hometown newspaper featured a great article in 2022 about her journey and her role as a pioneer in a tournament that’s now watched by over 1.1 million people. It’s wild to think how far the game has come—and how women like Cindy helped lay the foundation.

A few things stood out to me from the article. Her attitude was truly inspiring.

In the last 10 years, only one team in the DI WCWS had pitchers from Illinois on it. As far as high school competition, the IHSA used to have a state bracket in which the winner of the city tournament went directly downstate. Unfortunately, the city schools lost too many games by too much of a margin, so they began to mix the city conference with the near suburbs to make the championships more competitive. The city's conference is improving though, with Marist winning 3 state championships since 2010 and a few schools sending players to university with softball scholarships.

11. “My daughter will reach her full potential by playing in local travel tournaments and on a city high school team. Illinois competition is enough to elevate her to the NCAA or the state finals.”

So many challenges, frustrations, and disappointments—whether for coaches, players, or parents—stem from vague expectations and a lack of communication throughout the season. Inspired by these teams and my own coaching experience, I’ve put together a set of guiding principles for pitchers. These rules help ensure that every pitcher understands her role, stays accountable, and approaches the game with the right mindset.

At every age leading up to college softball recruiting, coaches suggest getting a realistic assessment of your skills. Everyone wants to know, do I have what it takes? Go to college games to observe the level of play. Ask instructors and coaches what you realistically need to improve on.

Erica Hanrahan

When it comes to deciding who should call the game, there are two very different schools of thought—and both have valid points. Before diving into the debate, though, I want to emphasize something I’m incredibly passionate about:

Pitchers need to have full autonomy to shake off a pitch or location call if they feel something else is more appropriate.

This autonomy is critical because pitchers need to own every pitch they throw. If they don’t like a pitch call for any reason, it’s on them to shake it off and get the pitch or location they believe in. That’s how you grow from being a thrower to becoming a pitcher. At the end of the day, the responsibility lies with the person throwing the ball—not the pitch caller.

What if you could make decisions based on what a player earned, not just on what you feel? What if you could take the pressure off yourself and let the work they put in decide who gets the ball? What if, when a player asked, "Why am I not pitching?" they understood, didn’t resent it, and just got back to work to get better? You’d have more peace. You’d have a better team.

Growing up, my dad played an integral role in my softball journey. Without him, I wouldn’t have achieved what I did in sports. His support, along with that of my uncle, cousins, sister, and anyone who caught for me, was invaluable. Here’s why having someone, especially a dad, to catch for you can make all the difference. In my personal experience my dad was the one with the best hand-eye coordination, as opposed to my mom, so I’m going to share with you the benefits I got from working with him!

How can you tell if you are mentally tough? Is it your endurance, your ability to come from behind, or strike out the last batter of the game? You might think a person who controls their emotions as tough, or one who can maintain complete focus amid a crowd of screaming fans.

I believe a mentally strong pitcher has a plan and sticks to it. She helps her teammates recover from their errors. Perhaps most importantly she understands the game, knowing when she’s in a crucial situation and can execute during those times.

To accurately evaluate your performance in a game, it's essential to use a structured approach. You should fill out an evaluation form before and after each game. Facing the truth might sting initially, but it's the only way to identify areas for improvement

Good things happen when you sit at the front of the class. I'm living proof of that.

When I was a kid growing up, adults and teachers would tout sitting in the front of the class as the holy grail of all serious learners. And it stood to reason that if you sit in the front of the class, you must pay close attention - as there is no one to hide behind and less opportunity to distract yourself without the teacher taking notice. And though I accepted this as truth, I didn't always like to sit in the front of the class. It's not always comfortable to make direct eye contact with the teacher or be "called on" more often, so I always thought the middle of the room was safer. But nonetheless, I knew that teachers wanted their best pupils to sit in the front of the class, and because I cared about being a great student, I embraced the uncomfortable and leaned in.

In our preseason sessions, which we're currently in, we focus on mentally preparing for the upcoming competitions. This means creating game-like scenarios and adding some pressure to our practices, so that when our pitchers step into actual games, it all feels routine.

I want to share as much as possible with you, and there is too much for one post, so I’ll start with what applies to us most - the Wasserman High-Level Throwing program. We started this plyo-ball program for the first time during the offseason. Players experienced with pitching school completed the exercises every class, working on things like “separation,” “body awareness,” and “patterning.” I wanted to test this program and see how it went, then the plan was to go from there.

“Practice to get better.”

“Be mentally tough.”

Sometimes I take all the things I learned for the mental game of softball for granted. I think they are very obvious, but did you know they came from somewhere? Actual psychologists throughout history introduced and studied these concepts. They came to evidence-based conclusions about what works and what doesn’t. Their conclusions were so influential, in fact, that they were woven into the foundation of all our sports so much so that we don't even notice them!