“Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”
Although in the similar sport of softball, baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra’s words ring just as true. For NC State’s softball program, a recent change in mentality has paid dividends for the Wolfpack, with redshirt senior outfielder Brigette Nordberg as its poster child.
Nordberg’s story doesn’t begin with NC State or softball in particular, but with the mother she looked up to while growing up in Exton, Pennsylvania.
“My mom was my biggest influence; she played field hockey and she played softball,” Nordberg said. “Having her growing up, she put whatever I had in front of me in my hand, it didn’t matter the sport. Luckily enough, I picked softball. Starting from a young age and then going into travel ball seasons and high school, I knew that it was something I wanted to extend. I wanted to attend a university that made me happy, and I wanted to play for as long as I could, which is why I’m back for a fifth year.”
Nordberg realized that goal of playing collegiate softball at the University of Maryland. After two seasons with the Terrapins, she was convinced by NC State head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift and assistant coach Patrick Swift to venture further south and join the Wolfpack. Nordberg had nothing but high praise for her coaches and their impact on her life both on and off the field.
“Coach Patrick and Coach Swift have honestly changed my life in more ways than on the field…” Nordberg said. “Having them in my corner and wanting me to come play at a school during their first year coaching was super exciting. They’re great people… They made me a better woman, they made me a better person and they made me a better softball player. I literally owe my whole career to them because, without them, I wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be as happy as I am today.”
Nordberg’s success is also attributable to the emphasis on home runs in the NC State softball program. After leading the Pack in home runs for the previous two years, she knows a thing or two about the mentality preached by her coaches.
“It’s stepping in the box and knowing that you’re going to hit a home run, expecting that you’re going to hit a home run and wanting to do that,” Nordberg said. “[The team’s] mindset is ‘Hit the ball over the fence and we’ll score some runs.’ I’ve bought into that from the first day I got here, I’m still buying into it today and I will probably buy into it for the rest of my life. It’s a bigger mindset than just on the field. [It’s] knowing you’re going to succeed, believing you’re going to do that.”
This mental approach was working well for Nordberg, who was tearing the cover off the ball in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season by going yard approximately once per every nine at-bats. This pace would have put her home run total at a career-high 18 if she had had as many at-bats as in 2019.
When the pandemic cut the 2020 season short, one would think Nordberg might consider opting out of the following year. But for her, the choice was a clear one.
“I got a call from the coaches in the summer asking, ‘Are you going to come back?’ and I told them they couldn’t get rid of me that easily, that I was going to be here for another year,” Nordberg said. “Knowing that I love the coaches and that I love my teammates was the main reason that I wanted to come back. I wanted another year. I love the sport as well, but those were the big two that made my decision easy.”
As she enters her fifth year of college softball, Nordberg has a lot of experience to draw from on how to succeed both on and off the field. Coming full circle from the mom that inspired her in her youth, Nordberg described her legacy as a demonstration to young women on the importance of having good mentors.
“A lot of coaches are in your corner; they’ll fight for you no matter what,” Nordberg said. “If you truly buy into what your coaches are telling you, then you will have no problem succeeding.”
