Spring sports are kicking into full gear this month, including teams that didn’t compete in the fall due to COVID-19. The NC State softball team is one of these groups that is looking to get back on the field after not competing since last spring.
Pitching staff
Redshirt sophomore Sydney Nester is returning to pitch for the Pack this season. Nester was one of three ACC pitchers that recorded a double-digit win record last season, going 10-4. Despite only playing two seasons for the Pack, Nester has already left a mark on the school record books. She’s recorded 7.8 career strikeouts per seven innings, which is the fourth highest, as well as 24 career wins, which is the seventh highest at NC State.
Also of note is the addition of redshirt senior Abby Trahan, who transferred from Southern Miss after her junior season, and didn’t play last year due to NCAA redshirt regulations. Trahan was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Year at Southern Miss and finished that season with a 1.89 earned run average.
Between Nester and Trahan, the Pack’s pitching staff is solid this year and, if it’s able to put up similar numbers to last season, should help drive this team forward.
Infield position group
The Pack’s starting infielders are all returning this season: redshirt junior Logan Morris, redshirt junior Randi Farricker, redshirt sophomore April Visser and redshirt junior Carson Shaner.
The Pack does have freshman Kaylee Lambrecht, who played shortstop in high school, as well as freshman Haley Haislip coming in to play infield. Between the returning veteran corps and a talented freshman class, NC State should be able to cover the infield this season, but there will most likely be an adjustment period as the roster gets ironed out early in the season.
Outfield position group
All three starting outfielders, redshirt junior Sam Russ, redshirt senior outfielder Tatyana Forbes and redshirt senior Angie Rizzi, are returning to the Pack this season.
“Obviously, everyone in our lineup is super talented,” said redshirt senior outfielder Brigette Nordberg. “We have Taty, Sam, Angie in the outfield; they’re big name players. So you know, we have a lot of people that I’m excited to see on the field.”
Forbes is most likely going to be the highlight of this team once again, coming back for a fifth year after ranking first in the ACC and fifth in the NCAA in batting average (0.538) last season. She was also selected as an outfielder for the 2021 Preseason All-ACC softball team.
“Coming back another year, I saw it as such a great opportunity,” Forbes said. “I get to finish the second year of my master’s while playing the game, so I’m excited for this season.”
That thing that is so special about this team and what will give them the edge this season is its depth. While recruiting and training for the season, the coaching staff was really looking for players that would be able to play multiple positions well, instead of just specializing in one position. This will certainly help the team out in case of COVID-19 cases on the team.
While defensive positions are critical to the success of the team, the home run mentality runs strong with head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift and assistant coach Patrick Swift.
“[Patrick-Swift]’s mindset is ‘Hit the ball over the fence and we’ll score some runs,’” Nordberg said. “And you know, I mean I’ve bought into that first day I got here. I’m still buying into it today and probably will buy into it for the rest of my life.”
There’s a lot to look forward to from this team, even with COVID-19 standing in the way of its fall season.
“The coaches and our support staff really made sure that you know, when we hit springtime, when we hit next week, that we’re all going to be ready to go,” Nordberg said.
