Caitlin Lowe eases into her second year at the helm: 'My head is not spinning anymore'

There is a new vibe at Hillenbrand Stadium.

It starts with Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe, who is heading into her second year at the helm.

Lowe has settled in following last year’s unlikely run to the Women’s College World Series. She’s even starting tweeting about good days, taking a page from fellow Wildcats coaches Adia Barnes and Jedd Fisch.

“I’ve had five minutes, and my head is not spinning anymore,” Lowe said. “And it feel it feels good. (I’m) excited about this year.”

The Wildcats will play their first “fall-ball” game against Pima College on Thursday night. They’ll take on other junior-college teams over the coming weeks.

It wasn’t an easy first season for Lowe or the Wildcats. Arizona struggled at the start of Pac-12 play, somehow managed to make the postseason as an at-large team before getting hot in the regionals and super regionals. Pitchers Devyn Netz and Hanah Bowen stepped up in the playoffs, and the Wildcats’ batters delivered some timely hits.

Lowe’s offseason wasn’t much easier, at least at first. Janelle Meono and Sharlize Palacios transferred to rival UCLA, marking the first time in program history that any player had left the Wildcats for the Bruins.

By the time Lowe and the Wildcats reunited in August, the stress of Year 1 was behind them. Lowe talked about what the new team could do together.

The Wildcats’ 2023 roster includes nine newcomers.

There is also fresh leadership, starting with fifth-year senior Izzy Pacho, who was a first team NFCA All-West Region selection; and junior second baseman Allie Skaggs, a second team All-Pac-12 player whose 24 home runs led the Pac-12 in 2022.

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The longtime friends are more than ready for their new roles.

“(Skaggs) always had the right things to say, and it’s just being able to have the confidence in the voice to say it. And I think she’s learning how to do that this year,” Lowe said. “It’s all coming from a great place. I know it’s all coming from a great place. And the biggest thing is, her teammates know it’s coming from the right place. If I had my way, she’d speak even more, but she also has complementary leaders who are taking the reins in some categories, because she’s going to be the one to put her arm around you, and someone else might be the one to put you in your place. But I think, just a lot of growth and using her voice and taking care of people, and it’s really kind of in her nature.”

With Pacho, “it’s a sense of her knowing it’s her team and culture to take over,” Lowe said.

“I think she’s always been fighting for the position. And now it’s like, ‘How do I lead these people where I want them to go?’” Lowe said. “I think that’s a really cool transition for her because she’s not scraping, scraping, scraping and believe me, she is still kind of doing that. But just knowing that this is her team, and like, ‘How do we want it to look?’ I think her and Skaggs have done a great job of putting their stamp on it and people are starting to follow.”

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, players can practice together and play in fall scrimmages without restriction.

“We’re having a great time,” Skaggs said. “The new players, they’re meshing so, so well. And it’s been so fun.

“They are fitting in very well. ... I think we struggled with in the past. I mean, it didn’t help with with COVID. It was hard to be around each other. But now this year, we’re doing a really good job of getting everyone together and making the freshmen and the new the transfers comfortable. I think they’re doing great, they’re competitive. They’re here to learn. That’s one thing that I’ve loved is that they ask us questions, we can ask them questions, and it’s so it’s such an open and safe environment.”

Inside pitch

• Skaggs was named to Softball America’s Top 10 Player of the Year candidates. “I want to do the same thing for my team and be clutch and lead the way for the young ones. (That’s) the biggest thing I want to do this year,” Skaggs said.
• Skaggs is working with Sondermind, a company that helps patients use their insurance to find mental health care. The company is affiliated with Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn; at first, the Wildcats softball player wasn’t quite sure who she was. Skaggs called her parents. Their response: “’What? Are you kidding me?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, what is she about?’” Skaggs said. “(They said) ‘You know that she’s the greatest female Olympic skier of all time, right?’ I was like, ‘Oh, good.’”
• Former Wildcats Alyssa Denham and Dejah Mulipola will represent Team USA at the 2022 Pan Am Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The week-long tournament begins Nov. 12.