(Photo: Troy Tauscher/WCSN)
The Arizona State softball team had just wrapped up its fifth win in a row on March 10th, beating South Dakota 9-0 before the start of a crucial road trip against UCLA. Then, everything came to a crashing halt.
“They told us to turn around,” head coach Trisha Ford said, as she found out the season had been cancelled via Twitter with the team bus heading to Los Angeles.
They had just been told that their series against UCLA was cancelled and just a day later, on March 12, the season was suddenly cancelled.
For many players, it was shocking and surreal. All their hard work was wiped away in just seconds.
“I was sad about it because a lot of questions were being asked and no one had answers, because everything was so unknown,” senior catcher Maddi Hackbarth said. “I just had so much riding on the season. I was looking to go pro after, so again if my season was done, it was going to be, did I do enough to get looked at by a couple more teams?”
For Maddi and her sister Kindra, it was their senior year at ASU. They both had high hopes going into the season. They believed the team was good enough to make it to the College World Series, and their 22-7 overall record this season proved it.
Now, their careers were in limbo. Same for the three other seniors that made up the power-heavy Sun Devils roster.
While they worried that their collegiate career may be over, the NCAA announced on March 30 that student-athletes playing spring sports would be granted an extra year of eligibility.
It was up to the seniors to decide if they wanted to return for another season. Luckily for the Sun Devils, they’ll have four seniors returning next year, including the Hackbarth sisters.
“I had a lot to think about just because I had set plans with other people like one of the lacrosse girls that’s going back,” Kindra Hackbarth said. “But honestly, I love softball and I love everything it has given me. It wasn’t very hard; it was just a lot to think about.”
For Maddi, her decision was easy too. Her passion is what drove her to come back.
“I love softball,” Maddi Hackbarth said. “It’s been a huge part of my life since I was 4 years old. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for it and for it to just end like that it was like, no, it’s not happening.”
Senior pitcher Cielo Meza and senior outfielder Alli Tatnall are also returning, while pitcher Samantha Mejia won’t be coming back.
ASU has already told the team that the four returning seniors will have “the same level” of support, meaning tuition will seemingly be covered.
With rosters expanding, teams next season will have many difficult decisions to make when it comes to their lineups.
“I think there’s going to be a good amount of competition,” Ford said. “We have a really good class coming in. I think I’m going to have a hard time making a lineup, which is going to be great.”
For the Sun Devils, there will be at least four extra members to the roster when factoring in the incoming freshman class in 2021. The expanded rosters will only complicate things, as the PAC-12 has a rule in place that only allows 20 players to travel in-conference. Despite the expansion of rosters, Ford believes that rule will not be changing heading into next season.
The Sun Devils will benefit greatly from having both Maddi and Kindra returning next season.
Kindra, who was voted a first-team All-American this season, was hitting .443 with six home runs and 27 RBIs in the shortened season.
“I feel bad for every pitcher that has to pitch to her,” her sister said. “Just because you beat her once, you still have two more at bats to try and beat her. It’s just not going to work out in your favor.”
Maddi was having a career year as well, leading the team with nine home runs and 32 RBIs while achieving her first All-American honors. However, it’s her leadership and defense that makes her return all that more important.
“For me, Maddi is such a staple behind the plate for us,” Ford said. “She’s able to really communicate clearly with our pitchers and understand them and their differences.”
Her ultimate goal before next season ends is to break ASU’s single-season home run record, which stands at 20. She came very close in 2019 tallying 19 home runs, but she’ll have some competition from freshman infielder Alynah Torres, who showed her potential this season finishing tied with the team lead in homers.
For Kindra, she doesn’t allow herself to set many personal goals, but there is one she’s always had.
“I’ve always wanted to retire my jersey, just because there’s only one up there,” Kindra Hackbarth said. “I don’t really know what it takes to do that, but that’s always been one of my goals.”
Pitcher Katie Burkhart’s No. 7 is the program’s only retired jersey number after she was named first-team NFCA All-American twice and helped win the program’s first-ever national championship in 2008.
Now, Kindra has a chance of making her own history.
“I think when her career is over then you’ll be able to look back and see that she measures up or is pretty equal or ahead of a lot of great hitters in our program,” Ford said.
With much of the same team in place and several talented new incomers, expectations will certainly be high in 2021.
The success of next year’s team could ultimately come down to the freshmen, but they will be facing some challenges of their own.
“I think that it’s hard for the incoming freshman to come in knowing that four out of the five starters consistently every game that are coming back are seniors,” Maddi Hackbarth said. “It does come down to incoming freshmen, because they’re either going to come in and put the work in and make the returners know that they’re spot isn’t just set in stone.”
