GCU softball returns every pitcher, builds bond for season
By: Paul Coro
At the outset of practice, Grand Canyon softball players sit in a circle for stretching along their stadium's right-field line and each one shares her personal intention for the day.
"Be tough."
"Be loud."
"Practice with purpose."
"Play with confidence."
"Love the game."
Every day's words and actions shape the season and this Lopes team was intentional with its offseason and preseason to be exceptional in games, which start against Stanford on Thursday night at GCU Softball Stadium.
The Lopes return their entire pitching staff and seven regular starters to face an ambitious schedule with 10 opponents who played in last year's NCAA tournament, starting with the Cardinal in the GCU Kickoff Tournament.
                  Ann Pierson
"We are continuing to embrace a disciplined approach and that's in every area of their lives, whether it's how they make their beds, how they keep their lockers, certainly in the classroom and certainly on the field," said GCU 17th-year head coach Ann Pierson, who needs 17 wins to reach 500 at GCU. "I don't think there's a discipline switch that you can just flip on and off when the lights are on. It's understanding that you need to maintain your discipline even when you don't feel like it because it affects everyone on the team."
The Lopes have won more than 30 games in four consecutive seasons but appear deeper despite being young with only two seniors – Brianna Aguilar and Loriann Olson.
"I think we're fresh right now," said Aguilar, a pitcher with 33 career wins to rank second in GCU's Division I history. "We have a lot of really good players and some who haven't seen the field as much in the past. We have a fresh, rejuvenated feel about us. Everyone is ready to go.
"Everyone is here for each other and we're all in it together. We're competing against each other but also for each other."
Aguilar joined fellow pitcher Ryan Denhart, a junior, and shortstop Savannah Tourville, a sophomore, on the 13-player Preseason All-WAC team. Aguilar, Denhart and juniors Lexy Coons and Yessie Morrison finished in last season's WAC top 10 for ERA.
Denhart led that group at 2.21 ERA after transferring from Maryland but said she feels like she fits in more than ever as she enters the season as the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
"It feels good to know that other people can see you as that type of person," Denhart said. "But it's preseason. It doesn't even matter until four weeks from now and if I really show what they think I can do. The honor is great but it's all up to me now."
The offense is headed by Tourville, who played second base for the first time last season because of an injury but now moves to her natural position at shortstop. Fellow sophomore Taylor Olsen will play third base, carrying the team's second-best returning batting average (.271) and filling out the left side of the infield vacated by the graduations of Shea and Sierra Smith.
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         Brianna Aguilar
Tourville was named to the All-WAC first team as a freshman because she led the Lopes in home runs (10) and RBI (48) while hitting .306.
"We have a very good bond this year," Tourville said. "I think we're just so ready to come out this year and fight. We have everyone's backs. Our motto this year is tough and to be tougher than other teams."
That mentality already showed in scheduling five Pac-12 opponents, including an Arizona State visit, and having a neutral-site game against Texas Tech, a road game at Baylor and landing a GCU Softball Stadium visit from Ohio State.
The offense loses last season's top three hitters but returns a versatile lineup with experience, featuring Olson and junior Kaylee Dietrich on the right side of the infield and junior Kaileigh Holland at catcher and the speed of sophomore outfielders Gianna Nicoletti and Rachel Hammons.
"I think we're balanced," Pierson said. "I think we have home run power, we have gap power and we have speed. But speed is only great when it's on the bases.
"We have to attack whoever is on the mound and be confident. Good things happen when we swing our bats. I never want to see us play careful. I want to see a hair-on-fire, aggressive, attack."
Six freshmen enter the program, including outfielder Jaiden Reid giving this team five players from Tucson, Arizona, and a lefthanded option to the pitching staff in Sydnie Sahhar. Mississippi State transfer Brooke Cantillo, a sophomore, also joins the Lopes outfield.
"Brooke is a gamer," Pierson said. "She jump-starts the lineup."
The entire season builds toward another chance to earn a NCAA tournament bid on its home field. The WAC Tournament returns to GCU Softball Stadium in May, a year after the Lopes won two tournament elimination games before its season ended in an extra-inning heartbreaker.
"The returners haven't forgotten it," Pierson said. "The staff has not forgotten it. We have the opportunity to host again. That's a huge gift. We have to go weekend, one game, one inning at a time and just play. If everybody does their job, we'll be fine."
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