Speaker 1: Right for coming.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're very welcome. All here we go, three two one,
Speaker 2: Hi everyone on Bob Joyce. It's the HUSKYHQ dot COM's
Speaker 2: Coaches Corner podcast. And now that we can totally focus
Speaker 2: on the spring sports, I thought it'd be a time
Speaker 2: to catch up with Laura Valentino and Yukon softball. They're
Speaker 2: having a very good year at twenty four and fourteen.
Speaker 2: They're a game out of first in the Big East
Speaker 2: at eleven and four. They have eleven games left to play,
Speaker 2: including three conference weekends. It starts this weekend at DePaul,
Speaker 2: but they have a little business with Fairfield first in
Speaker 2: a midweek game on Wednesday. But Laura, first of all,
Speaker 2: thanks for doing this. And when I think of Yukon softball,
Speaker 2: I think of speed, stealing a ton of bases and
Speaker 2: having some decent pitching and good defense to get you wins,
Speaker 2: get you wins on the season. But this year it's
Speaker 2: a little different because suddenly the bats have come alive.
Speaker 2: And from talking with Adam Jardino, it sounds like you're
Speaker 2: about to break the school record for home runs not
Speaker 2: only by a team, but an individual hits runs scored.
Speaker 2: It's like, Wow, this offense, it's suddenly fun to watch,
Speaker 2: even more so when you go with the long ball.
Speaker 1: Thanks Bob, I appreciate that, and yes, and talking with
Speaker 1: you and Adam and just you know, every broadcaster that
Speaker 1: typically talks to me knowing that I came from hops
Speaker 1: to softball, which very much was driven by pitching in defense. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, looking at the past five years here at
Speaker 1: Yukon and us doing great things and having success, and
Speaker 1: really coming together with my staff after last year and
Speaker 1: realizing that we needed to not totally make a change
Speaker 1: to what we do here because we very much have
Speaker 1: a specific type of kid, but we definitely put some
Speaker 1: more time into our offensive production and how we were
Speaker 1: going to be successful in the Big East this year
Speaker 1: was to be able to score runs. Right, the team
Speaker 1: that wins the Big East Tournament is typically the team
Speaker 1: that has the strongest offensive production, so we dedicated a
Speaker 1: lot of time and preparation to that. Coach Max done
Speaker 1: a great job or our kids are really working hard
Speaker 1: in the cages and buying in and as you can see,
Speaker 1: we're very much as tough out at the plate and
Speaker 1: creating a lot of chaos for a lot of other teams.
Speaker 2: Right now, Grace Jenkins obviously and her sister were a
Speaker 2: great story when you recruited them. Grace Catches plays first base.
Speaker 2: She's on the verge of breaking the school record for
Speaker 2: home runs. She's got Caitlin Breslin, who will talk about
Speaker 2: in a minute behind her in the home run department.
Speaker 2: But Grace just seems like she's been such a rock
Speaker 2: as the number two hitter in the order behind Lexi Hastings,
Speaker 2: who can still steal bases. She's twenty two of twenty four.
Speaker 2: But your top four seem to be pretty solid in
Speaker 2: what they've done this year.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, I mean Grace actually this weekend broke the
Speaker 1: program record for single season RBIs and home runs. So
Speaker 1: great job by Grace and real she just has, you know,
Speaker 1: really capitalized on making a small adjustment in her swing
Speaker 1: and again an extremely hard worker. That's part of our
Speaker 1: culture here. You know, she's working in the cages. She
Speaker 1: is really really tough out of the plate. She's hitting
Speaker 1: the ball for more power this year. And really really
Speaker 1: proud of her and what she brings to this program.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you look at the top four, three
Speaker 1: out of those four and I would even consider Kaya
Speaker 1: a later on this team as well. But three out
Speaker 1: of those four players are captains for us, and they
Speaker 1: really set the tone for our offense, obviously being in
Speaker 1: the top four, but also in the locker room and
Speaker 1: what they're driven to do this year as a team.
Speaker 2: What about Grace behind the plate where you've seen the
Speaker 2: biggest improvement in her game.
Speaker 1: Well, ever since Grace came in this year, she you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about where she wanted to set some goals
Speaker 1: behind the plate this year, and the biggest thing was
Speaker 1: her being able to steal strikes. So from the beginning
Speaker 1: of the season, she comes in and either we do
Speaker 1: some film and work off of the machine and we're
Speaker 1: really working on her being able to steal those borderline
Speaker 1: pitches for our pitching staff behind the plate. And you know, hey,
Speaker 1: a lot of people told her ever since she was younger,
Speaker 1: that she wasn't going to be a division on college
Speaker 1: catcher because she was lufty, And I would say she's
Speaker 1: proven a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Wrong stealing strikes as an umpire. Okay, I like that,
Speaker 2: All right, Let's go all right, let's go to players
Speaker 2: who take big jumps, and you hope that from Saya
Speaker 2: freshman to a sophomore Caitlin Breslin certainly has done that.
Speaker 2: She was off the bench last season. Now she's playing
Speaker 2: right field, hitting four hundred and forty two hits. She's
Speaker 2: six foot tall, and of course, the big game that
Speaker 2: everybody's talking about is I think the first or second
Speaker 2: game at Creighton when she hit four home runs. I
Speaker 2: believe it's the seventh player ever to do that in
Speaker 2: college softball. Talk about the jump that this young lady
Speaker 2: has taken and how she's really just grab the handle
Speaker 2: and gone with it.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Brez is a kid that came in this year
Speaker 1: and took advantage of an opportunity. Obviously, you know, we
Speaker 1: lost the quite a big senior class, but you know,
Speaker 1: she knew she had an opportunity in front of her,
Speaker 1: and she took it with her work ethic, and she's
Speaker 1: been an extremely coachable kid. You know, It's one of
Speaker 1: the things that I absolutely love about her. I would
Speaker 1: consider her a kid that really is extremely consistent, and
Speaker 1: you love that as a coach. When you come to practice,
Speaker 1: you know what you're going to get from Breas, you
Speaker 1: know what you're going to get from her on game day.
Speaker 2: It's the same.
Speaker 1: It's a smile. It's a consistent attitude in the way
Speaker 1: that she approaches the game and that's contributed to a
Speaker 1: lot of her success. And then in the creating series,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's such a joy to coach bred
Speaker 1: and these kids in moments like that really just fill
Speaker 1: you with joy because is it's really all their work
Speaker 1: that they've put in and they deserve it. And to
Speaker 1: see them celebrate together in such a unique moment that
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen very very often. I mean, she was
Speaker 1: National Player of the Week. How cool for her and
Speaker 1: this program and to see them be able to celebrate
Speaker 1: her and her continued success is amazing.
Speaker 2: Laura, was she under the radar as far as the
Speaker 2: recruit goes when you got her.
Speaker 1: Well, I you know, I always I joke about this
Speaker 1: with my dad and you know, I tell him, He's like,
Speaker 1: who's coming in? You know, wh who's going to be
Speaker 1: the next player, the next freshman? And are they any good?
Speaker 1: And you know, ever since I saw Breds, I knew
Speaker 1: that she was going to be a power threat in
Speaker 1: the East and she obviously it just wasn't you know,
Speaker 1: the right time last year and this year she's crushing it.
Speaker 1: So you know, I like to say not to you know,
Speaker 1: pat myself on the back by any means, but I
Speaker 1: had a lot of belief in her and her ability
Speaker 1: to be able to do what she's doing this year,
Speaker 1: and you know, just really saw her as somebody that
Speaker 1: was going to produce a lot of power in the
Speaker 1: middle of our lineup since I recruited her. Now would
Speaker 1: other people say, you know, maybe they didn't think the same,
Speaker 1: but I really saw something special in her and she
Speaker 1: was exactly the type of player that we like. She's athletic,
Speaker 1: she's team for she's extremely coachable, and that's contributed to
Speaker 1: what she's doing right here this year and her sophomore year.
Speaker 2: Laura, your Biggiest Player of the Year. A Lexie Hastings
Speaker 2: is back at the leadoff spot. She's twenty two of
Speaker 2: twenty four in stolen bases, one of the few threats
Speaker 2: that you have that can steal. But with the change
Speaker 2: in the lineup and the more power that you have have,
Speaker 2: you reduced her attempts to steal bases or is she
Speaker 2: still looking to be as aggressive as possible?
Speaker 1: For sure, I think a little bit of the game
Speaker 1: has changed, and also just playing to our strength just
Speaker 1: in the sense of why are we going to steal
Speaker 1: when there's a possibility that we're going to hit the
Speaker 1: ball over the fence or just hit a double and
Speaker 1: be able to score that way versus the risk of
Speaker 1: getting thrown out. So I think that's definitely been part
Speaker 1: of some of the change in her stealing a little
Speaker 1: bit less. And then obviously you have the replay, being
Speaker 1: able to replay leaving early. It's a really tough play.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's obviously changed the game. If
Speaker 1: you look around the country, there's a lot less stolen
Speaker 1: bases now because of that rule, because it's such a
Speaker 1: small margin of error, and you know, I don't like
Speaker 1: to say we got away with it in the past,
Speaker 1: but it was definitely a lot tougher to call. So
Speaker 1: that's definitely changed her game slightly. But you know what,
Speaker 1: she is just a kid that starts with setting the
Speaker 1: tone for our chaos in our offense. And what's so
Speaker 1: tough about her is she can bunch, she can slap.
Speaker 1: She'd hit the ball in the gap or over the fence,
Speaker 1: So try defending that and look at where the defense
Speaker 1: has to play her. Crazy. The other day, the infield
Speaker 1: was in and the outfield was on the warning track.
Speaker 1: So it's pretty incredible to watch her play, and I'm
Speaker 1: just soaking in and being extremely grateful to coach her
Speaker 1: every day. You know, she's a senior, but I can
Speaker 1: tell you she's definitely even a mark on.
Speaker 2: This program, right Laura Valentino with us yukon softball coach,
Speaker 2: you mentioned you graduated a large senior class pitching, took
Speaker 2: a little bit of a hip of Peyton Kenny and
Speaker 2: Hope Jenkins anchor a relatively young staff. But then you've
Speaker 2: got some youth defensively too. I know you have a
Speaker 2: new shortstop.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, So Peyton and Hope are really stepping up
Speaker 1: really nicely in the starting role. And what's so great
Speaker 1: is they compliment each other really well. And then you know,
Speaker 1: the rest of the staff obviously, Sidney Amber and Stella.
Speaker 1: What's so great about our staff is we're getting better
Speaker 1: as we go throughout the season, which I'm really excited about.
Speaker 1: We compliment each other really well, have some different tools
Speaker 1: there on the mounds, and you know, obviously it's been
Speaker 1: very exciting to see them, you know, get better with
Speaker 1: coach g She's been a great addition to the staff
Speaker 1: and just being able to have her knowledge and her
Speaker 1: mindset of winning championships on our staff has been an
Speaker 1: extremely huge asset, Laura.
Speaker 2: After you open the conference season with three against Villanova,
Speaker 2: and by the way, you kind of not lost the
Speaker 2: series this season, They've taken two out of three in
Speaker 2: everyone but one where they swept. You went to Tennessee
Speaker 2: to play the seventh rank Lady Vols, lost the opener
Speaker 2: in a run rule game, then lost four, three and
Speaker 2: ten and six to three where they scored I think
Speaker 2: three runs at the bottom of the six to a
Speaker 2: take charge. What did you take out of that series
Speaker 2: that maybe has given this team a boost of confidence
Speaker 2: heading back in a conference play.
Speaker 1: Well, when your team competes against the top team in
Speaker 1: the country, a top ten team in the country, why
Speaker 1: can't we dominate in Big East play? I think it
Speaker 1: was a tremendous spoos to our players' confidence and belief
Speaker 1: in themselves and what they have the capability to do.
Speaker 2: I mean, you.
Speaker 1: Look at every Big East conference series and like you said,
Speaker 1: outside of Villanova, we're putting up a lot of runs.
Speaker 1: We've run ruled every team at least once, so we
Speaker 1: have the capability to when we show up, we're a
Speaker 1: really tough team to beat. One through nine. Offensively, pitching, defense,
Speaker 1: all three aspects of our game really showed up big
Speaker 1: time in that series against Tennessee, and it showed and
Speaker 1: just to go back to cat Pettis, I think she
Speaker 1: has grown tremendously since that series because she's a kid
Speaker 1: that you know, every freshman you come in and you
Speaker 1: are talented, and she's extremely athletic, and you know, she's
Speaker 1: made some mistakes early on in her career and she
Speaker 1: knows she can make those plays. But I've challenged her
Speaker 1: to make the plays at a higher level and that's
Speaker 1: what's going to put her over the top of being
Speaker 1: not only an amazing hitter, but an amazing shortstop. And
Speaker 1: she has extreme potential. She's a joy to coach. You
Speaker 1: can really push her and challenge her, and I think
Speaker 1: that Tennessee weekend was a turning point for her of hey,
Speaker 1: I can make a mistake, but really it's about how
Speaker 1: I bounce back and bring the energy to the team.
Speaker 1: Because I'm the shortstop and it doesn't matter that I
Speaker 1: have the label freshman next to my name.
Speaker 2: I understand that all right. Schedule wise, you have eleven
Speaker 2: games left Fairfield on Wednesday. Then you go to the Pall,
Speaker 2: you host Georgetown, you get one with BC, and then
Speaker 2: there's a little carrot at the end dangling sitting there.
Speaker 2: As long as you take care of business with a
Speaker 2: three game home series with Saint John's. I know you
Speaker 2: can't look ahead, it's one game at a time, but
Speaker 2: it seems like with the leadership that you have, the
Speaker 2: focus seems to be there that as long as you
Speaker 2: guys do what you're capable of, you should be able
Speaker 2: to take care of business heading into that final weekend.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, I mean we are going to continue to
Speaker 1: play Yukon softball and work to get better every single game.
Speaker 1: Right it's on paper we're playing the worst two teams
Speaker 1: in the conference, but it's going to be really about
Speaker 1: us continuing to climb the ladder and move the needle.
Speaker 1: For us and for our program, that's been the emphasis
Speaker 1: emphasis this year is keeping our foot on the gas
Speaker 1: pedal and never letting up. So we're going to continue
Speaker 1: to have that be our focus going into the upcoming
Speaker 1: couple of weekends, and then it's great to finish up
Speaker 1: at home and a big home series and obviously get
Speaker 1: some moment I'm going into the tournament.
Speaker 2: Laura, Finally, I imagine some of your young ladies paid
Speaker 2: attention to the women's basketball team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just a little, yes, Yes, absolutely. It was definitely
Speaker 1: an extremely exciting time for us and for Yukon and
Speaker 1: women's sports here on campus. And it was funny, you know,
Speaker 1: our reporter said, you know, it's not often that the
Speaker 1: folk gets taken off of Paige Becker's, but Caitlin Breslin,
Speaker 1: it's four home runs. You know, that's pretty exciting. But
Speaker 1: you know, I just am extremely proud and just grateful
Speaker 1: to be a part of the atmosphere here at Yukon
Speaker 1: and what Gino has done for the athletic department and
Speaker 1: the support that he's given me and my program is
Speaker 1: really special, and I am excited to spend some time
Speaker 1: with him hopefully here over the next month and cms
Speaker 1: the softball games.
Speaker 2: And if I'm not mistaken, I think Paige used to
Speaker 2: go to softball games.
Speaker 1: Right, of course he'll be there. I wouldn't doubt it
Speaker 1: that she'll be at one of our home series down
Speaker 1: the stretch here because she's also been a great supporter.
Speaker 2: All right, Hey, Laura, thanks for a couple of minutes.
Speaker 2: We appreciate it always and go kick some button the
Speaker 2: next few weeks.
Speaker 1: Awesome. Thanks so much, Bob, go.
Speaker 2: Husky's always great to catch up with Yukon softball coach
Speaker 2: Laura Valentino. Most of the remaining games are at home
Speaker 2: Fairfield Wednesday, the weekend of the twenty fifth, twenty sixth,
Speaker 2: and twenty seventh against Georgetown, home against BC on the
Speaker 2: twenty ninth, and then the first week in in May.
Speaker 2: It's three against Saint John's that could decide the regular
Speaker 2: season Biggies Championship. Go to Yukonusky's dot com and check
Speaker 2: out softball for more information. That'll do it for another
Speaker 2: edition of a Coach's Corner podcast with Laura Valentino. I'm
Speaker 2: Bob Joyce. Thanks for listening.