(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
Last season, you would not have seen three players at Farrington Stadium playing for the Arizona State Softball team. They weren’t still in high school or out with injuries. Instead, Maddi Hackbarth, Kindra Hackbarth and Morgan Howe dawned different colors, those of the Fresno State Bulldogs.
At the beginning of the season, head coach Trisha Ford spoke highly of the three transfers from Fresno State.
“Three of them I’ve had history with, so I knew what I was getting,” said Ford.
All three girls decided to make the switch from Fresno State to play for their former and now current head coach, Ford. She initially recruited Howe and the Hackbarth sisters when she was the head coach of Fresno State before coming to ASU.
“Maddi Hackbarth is a catcher, and I recruited her for a reason,” said Ford. “Both her and her sister were a top-25 recruit coming in as freshmen.”
“Coach Ford has had a huge impact on how happy I am here and what she has done for me,” said Maddi Hackbarth. “I love the town. I love everything about ASU.”
Since transferring to Arizona State, all three girls have succeeded in their new roles as Sun Devils.
Maddi Hackbarth is the starting catcher for ASU this season and has racked up six home runs and 24 RBIs this season.
“Coach Ford and all the coaches including the (Graduate Assistants) have helped my transition go very smooth,” said Maddi Hackbarth.
Kindra Hackbarth has had the most at-bats and total hits for the Sun Devils this season. She is currently batting .356 with a total of 18 RBIs thus far.
“It has been really smooth. It has been a lot better here than where I was,” said Kindra Hackbarth on transferring to Arizona State.
Unlike the Hackbarth twins, Howe played under Coach Ford her freshman year at Fresno State before Ford left for Tempe. She explained the adjustment period coming to ASU was not a major problem for her.
“I think I have adjusted well,” said Howe. “I played with Coach Ford my freshman year at Fresno State, so her program I kind of knew a little bit, so it was an easier transition this year, then some of the other transfers.”
Howe currently has the third best batting average on the Devils this season at .347. She is also second on the team in doubles with seven in her first season here and has batted in 25 runs in the 2018 campaign.
Both Kindra and Maddi Hackbarth explained the dynamic of transferring with each other to a new university and how their family played into the situation.
“We both knew that we could go wherever we wanted. We played with each other all our lives, so we are very thankful we get to play each other in college,” said Maddi Hackbarth. “Wherever we wanted to go, they (family) just wanted us to be happy.”
Kindra reiterated that sentiment about being on the same team as her sister.
“It is always nice having family with me,” said Kindra Hackbarth. “I really enjoy playing with her, I have all my life. It is like a routine.”
All three of the girls had nothing but praise for Coach Ford and the job she did at Fresno State plus the role she currently has with the Devils. Ford played a pivotal role in each of the girls transferring to Arizona State.
“She was my number one reason why I was coming here. Her and Coach Wynn are both like my second mom,” said Kindra Hackbarth. “There would be no other school I would go to. I would come here and sit out a year, I would do it to play with Coach Ford.”
“I really enjoyed my freshman year. I felt like I grew up a lot as a person, as an athlete,” said Howe. “I want to be the best I can be as a person, as an athlete out of these four years that I get to play. Being back with Coach Ford is something I really, really wanted.”
“It was a huge factor. She was the one who recruited me when she was at Fresno State. She is like a mom to me. She is someone who I look for in a college coach,” said Maddi Hackbarth.
None of these three players ever imagined themselves playing softball in the desert, let alone be at Arizona State.
“ASU was never in my future,” said Kindra Hackbarth. “It is crazy to think I am here right now.”
After season concludes, the Hackbarth sisters both have two years remaining to play for the Sun Devils, while Howe only has her senior year to tackle.
The Sun Devils are set to take on their in-state rival, the Arizona Wildcats for a three-game set in Tempe. Game one will begin at 5:00 p.m. at Farrington Stadium in Tempe, Friday, April 20.
