The softball season is underway for California University of Pennsylvania. The team competed in the Snowbird tournament, which was held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and won three games. One of their wins held a dominant final score of 18-1.
Senior starting pitcher Alex Sagl said it was nice to get back on the field again. “It was a little rough at first,” Sagl said. “It was definetely something that we needed to work out all the kinks and such.”
Sagl said that the Snowbird tournament and the upcoming NTC Spring games are almost like a preseason for the team, but they still count.
Sagl hopes the team can keep the momentum from the positive Snowbird tournmanet games going into the NTC games. “We have to come out with the same attitudes that we had in the last games. The vibe is really good, finally, and I feel like we worked out a lot of kinks in our game that will help us stay on top of our game, instead of going back down,” she said.
As mentioend, Sagl is the starting pitcher. Even though pitcher is a prominant position, Sagl said she really doesn’t feel much pressure and stress in the job anymore. “I don’t really pay attention to that anymore. I used to, but after three years of already doing it, I kind of got used to it. Now I just do whatever I have to do for my team,” she said.
Even though Sagl is a leader on the team, she is also a student to her veteran head coach Rick Bertagnolli. Bertagnolli has been coaching for 22 years, and in the three year’s he’s coached Sagl, she says that mental toughness is the number one thing he’s taught her.
Cal U is currently top four in the nation. The Vulcans will head down to Clermont, Florida for 10 NTC Spring games starting on March 5.