DENVER, Colo. – Armed with a multitude of pitchers, and a core group of returners that helped set the standard, the Regis University softball team is eager to build on last season's success and make a run at the conference title later this spring.
"This team is hungry, especially after coming off all of our accomplishments that we had last year and the way we ended," said Regis softball head coach, Nicole Thompson. "We have a really big upperclassmen group and from the beginning when we set our goals in the fall, we want to win the RMAC. In the past years we've talked about it but this was this group's main goal and what they wanted to accomplish from the get-go."
The Rangers are set to open the 2024 season this weekend at the Division II Spring Invitational Kickoff down in Houston, hosted at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex down in Houston. They are coming off their second straight 30-win season, posting an overall record of 35-25 in 2023 with a 28-16 finish in conference play. The team's 2023 season also included a game that featured the program's most runs in a single game against Black Hills State University (22), ten run-rule wins, and seven shutouts.
In the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll released on January 24th by the conference, the Rangers were picked No. 4 for the second year in a row. Thompson says the ranking doesn't come as a surprise to the Rangers, but further proves that the season is all about how you finish.
"It's very typical of our fourth place for our preseason pick," said Thompson. "We're not new to that. But it's not about where we start, it's about how we finish. It's always something we strive for, we want to finish better than we were picked to finish. The RMAC is tough, four games every weekend, it's a long season. We tell our kids it's a marathon not a sprint. How do we use these first two weekends and how do we get better each week? How do we stay present? How can we use what we've worked on all season to get through the RMAC? Eventually we want to be in the number one spot at the end of the year."
BULLPEN
While the RMAC is known for being a hitters' conference, the Rangers are returning a wealth of pitching knowledge and leadership alongside two recruits that will help give the Regis bullpen a different look.
Reclaiming her spot as Regis' No. 1 pitcher is junior Kylie Harpman. Last season, Harpman led the Rangers with a 2.70 ERA, the fourth-best mark in the conference, and finished second in the RMAC in strikeouts with 193.
Joining Harpman in the Regis rotation is sophomore Vanessa Candito, who finished her freshman season in 2023 with a 4.43 ERA and .332 opponent batting average.
"Having Kylie come back and be our game one arm is huge," said Thompson. "She just keeps on growing and adding to her repertoire every single year and it's been really fun to see that with her. We also have Vanessa back and that's a great thing for her. She worked really hard over the summer and in the offseason. She's done some really good things in the fall for us and her confidence level of having a year under her belt and seeing what the RMAC is like will be big."
Rounding out the group of returning pitchers is Alexis Kemp, Hallie Crappell, and Katherine Raper. The trio finished with a combined ERA of 3.81 in 90 innings pitched.
"We've got some of our middle of the inning pitchers between Alexis Kemp and Hallie Crappell so that's been nice to see that experience coming back," said Thompson. "Kat is going to get some more time too in that relieving spot since we've lost Abby. She was kind of in that role last year. That'll be nice to have the leadership and experience in that role."
To bolster the Rangers' bullpen depth, Thompson also added two new arms to the Rangers bullpen in Jenna Fraser and Ava Edwards.
Edwards hails from Argyle, Tex. and played for Texas Glory while being named the District 7 5A Pitcher of the Year. Fraser, on the other hand, comes from Grand Junction, Colo. Both have been performing well during fall practices, says Thompson, and she's excited to see what the two are capable of.
"Ava's been someone that we've gone to in the fall, we've called upon her in scrimmages in big moments and it's been awesome to see her grow into herself and her role as a freshman. It's been nice to see the confidence. Ava's just a different feel for our pitching staff to help give us depth and that different perspective compared to some of our other arms on the mound," Thompson said. "Jenna we're getting off an injury so it's been nice to have her work with Coach Alexa and get that endurance back and see what she can do for us on the mound this year."
RETURNERS
In addition to the five returning arms for the Rangers, they also welcome back 11 returning position players who have at least one trip to the RMAC tournament under their belts.
"Having this many upperclassmen is huge. You can see it in our practices, you can see it in lifting and you can see it in the team culture. When you have an experienced team, you know what to expect, you know how practices are going, the culture, everything is smooth," said Thompson. "You just get that experience every single year and we saw it last year in the conference tournament where some of those kids were freshmen the year before or hadn't been in a starting spot and then you had those who had played in the RMAC tournament every single year, it makes a difference. We've got some key spots that are continuing to grow and just learn that leadership just one step at a time. It's been fun to see the returners really flourish into that leadership role."
Two of the upperclassmen returning are junior catcher/designated hitter Rachel Williams and junior third baseman Miia Campos, both of whom are returning to their positions this spring.
Williams and Campos posted the two highest batting averages on the team, .378 and .355 respectively, while combining for a total of 33 extra base hits, 10 of which were home runs.
In addition to Campos and Williams is Raper, who is a two-way player for the Rangers. As a pitcher, her role this spring is going to be more of a reliever, says Thompson, but last season, she also saw time at first base to get her bat in the lineup.
Not only are a majority of the returners upperclassmen, but add in utility player Olivia Wick (.284/.450/.421) who had a standout season that earned her RMAC All-Conference Honorable Mention and you have a top half of the batting lineup that averaged .339.
Chandler-native, Sienna Reed, also had a big season as a freshman as she started 53 of the 55 games she appeared in. At the end of the season, Reed posted a .247 batting average and a .342 slugging percentage.
Between Wick, Campos, Harpman, and Williams, Thompson expects the four of them to step up in big ways both on and off the field.
"I think they're hungry. They've been in their roles for a little bit, they know what's expected of them. They've set some pretty high standards and expectations not only for the team, but for themselves. It's been really fun to see them kind of fall into that in the fall. Those four are huge components on the offensive and defensive sides and they've just put the hard work in," Thompson said. "The extra cuts, staying after practice, doing some stuff on their own. Kylie's been getting into the bullpen and making sure things are fine tuned. It started last year, they set that bar with first team, second team, honorable mention or wherever they were hitting in the lineup, and Kylie with our number one pitcher. I think they're ready to elevate it another step to get this group ready and be the start of the train to get us going."
NEWCOMERS
The Rangers welcome in nine newcomers for the 2024 campaign, signing seven true freshmen and landing two transfers. Ariana Ybarra is a junior college transfer from Odessa College and Thompson says that it's likely she'll be stepping into the shortstop roll to fill the void following the graduation of Jessi Case last spring.
"She's a junior college transfer out of Texas and she's just nice to have at that shortstop spot," Thompson said. "She's got a really nice glove, she's smooth, and she's fit in really well with our program and will help us out tremendously on the defensive side.
The other new transfer for the Rangers is junior infielder Morgan Norris from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Thompson pointed out that she put up big numbers during her time in West Virginia (.315/.867/443) and expects that she'll perform similarly in the RMAC.
"Morgan Norris is a transfer we got off the transfer portal and she put up some big numbers at her previous school that she was at and it's really nice to add that bat into the lineup," Thompson said.
Part of the Rangers freshman class also includes the trio of Cami Britton, Rachel Barriga, and Jessica Isbell, are all infielders that hail from Arizona, while Fraser (Grand Junction) and utility player Kaden Wyatt (Greeley, Colo.) are in-state products.
Last but certainly not least is Sydney Young, a catcher from The Colony, Tex. Thompson pointed out that she and Edwards played select softball together, and her addition to the battery is already paying off.
"Sydney is a catcher and has already played with Ava. We got them out of the same program so that's been really nice to have her behind the plate to add to that battery," said Thompson. "She's got a strong bat and she's a hard worker so that'll be fun to see her in her Regis debut this year."
At the end of the day, the five freshmen and two transfers are adding depth and competition to the Regis lineup, and when a team has to play four games in two days in the RMAC, Thompson says that having depth will help them get to the next level.
"Depth was a big part of my recruiting process and we love it. It's added competition to our practices and our inner-squads," Thompson said. "We've got a lot of returners but a lot of our newbies have really pushed this program between the fall and the early spring practices to really get to that next level."
CULTURE
When asked about her team's culture, Thompson said that this year is different, and it started their first day of practice. The key word for the Rangers in 2024 is "intentional" as Thompson wants her team to be purposeful in every little thing they do, both on and off the field.
"When we came in this spring, the word we've been using since we started practice is 'intentional'. How can we be intentional in every little thing that we do? Winning the RMAC isn't going to be just rolling the balls out. How can we be intentional in the weight room? How can we be intentional with every rep on the field? How can we be intentional when we have to go inside? That's been a big keyword for us," Thompson said. "We've got things around the locker room that are hitting on that. It's just something that we've lived on since we've been back."
Thompson also wants her team to keep their feet on the ground, not looking ahead at their opponents for the weekend or their conference standings. She wants her team to stay in the moment and work hard, and eventually it will all pay off.
"Staying present, as well, with this group and knowing where we want to be at the end of the year is a big goal for us. But it won't happen unless we take it day by day and practice by practice," said Thompson. "By being able to stay present and truly enjoying being with this group, we can get there. It's a very tight knit group. They're hard workers on and off the field."
As for the academics and their role in the Regis community, Thompson's squad is aiming to win the program's ninth straight RMAC Brechler Award, an annual award given out to the team with the highest GPA in each of the RMAC's sponsored sports, while being active members of the Denver area community.
LOOKING FORWARD
The Rangers start their 2024 season deep in the heart of Texas with the DII Spring Invitational Kickoff Tournament in Houston, Texas. There they'll see a number of regional teams, such as University of Texas at Tyler, St. Edward's University, and St. Mary's University. Action gets underway at 9 a.m. (Mountain Time) this Friday against Saint Martin's University.
Following their tournament in Houston, the Rangers will stay in Texas to square off in a pair of games against Angelo State University and Texas A&M International as part of the ASU George and Ola McCorkle Challenge (Feb. 9-10). Regis will have 12 games under its belt before making the team's home debut on Feb. 17-18 when the Rangers open RMAC play against Colorado State University Pueblo
"Those trips are our table setters and I do this on purpose," said Thompson. "We talked about winning the RMAC and we talked about getting down to Texas in a regional and these are the teams that we have to play and hopefully beat to get down there. I think it will really help our level of competition before we get into the RMAC and then like we said, we get down there, we fine tune things with it being our first tournament and find what we can do better. I'm excited for it and I know the group is."
