There is a thought that the only team that really is happy is the one holding the national championship trophy on the final day of the season.
And that definitely could be said for a program as storied as Arizona, with its eight championships.
But not this year.
This was supposed to be the transition year from a legendary head coach in Mike Candrea to one of the best to ever don a Wildcat uniform, Caitlin Lowe. She had spent nearly a decade preparing for this moment, training at the side of Candrea.
It was a year that no one knew what to expect from a team that had only a few upperclassmen and only a handful of players who saw a good chunk of action last season.
Yet, there the Wildcats were Sunday night standing, on the field at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City at the Women’s College World Series playing for a shot at being in the semifinals. They were one of five teams left in the field.
Now that is something to smile about.
When the loss to Texas was over, and the Wildcats’ magical run came to an end, there was more a sense of hope than of disappointment.
After all, UA had opened Pac-12 play going 0-8, and eventually finishing tied for last place in the conference at 8-16. Yet, somehow, Arizona made postseason play and went on a journey to be remembered.
Looking like they belonged there, the Wildcats efficiently dispatched of every opponent they faced in the regional and Super Regionals round, going 5-0 while beating Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi State.
That made UA one of three unseeded teams in OKC, and gave it a shot at a ninth national title in the school’s 25th appearance at the WCWS.
Of course being eliminated hurt. Yet, after a little time they will realize what an incredible ride they’ve been on. As the Wildcats head back to Tucson after 19 days on the road, here is what we learned during the 2022 season:
Arizona’s Devyn Netz pitched her best softball of the year in the postseason, and plans on using the loss to Texas on Sunday to motivate her for 2023.
Pitching with heart can take you far
Hanah Bowen came into her fifth and final year as a Wildcat with high expectations. A breakout season will do that. She finished the 2021 season going 10-4 with a 2.06 ERA, pitched in four of seven games in the postseason and picked up two wins.
And she did it all with style. When Bowen strikes out a batter, she gives a big fist pump that gets her teammates fired up.
It took a while for Bowen to get her rhythm back after some starts and stops this season, and then she was slowed by a hip injury. Lowe said that at the beginning of May when Bowen realized her body was giving out, she decided to get even tougher mentally. And it worked.
Lowe said for Bowen it was “all heart.”
She rolled through the regionals and Super Regionals and pitched well in the WCWS. And Devyn Netz followed right along, as both raised their intensity and performances in the postseason.
In 32 innings of work over six postseason games, Bowen allowed six runs, struck out 22 and walked 16 in 594 pitches. Netz pitched 23 innings in five games, struck out 11, walked eight, gave up four runs on 13 hits in 277 pitches.
Two efficient, competitive performances. Both left it all on the field.
“I try not to think of the result,” Bowen said. “I think I just tell myself pitch by pitch, like, one pitch at a time, and breathe because that just keeps me in the present. … It’s definitely the mindset, it definitely made me stronger. I had the mindset it is what it is because it takes the pressure off myself. It just puts me in a zone to do what I know how to do.”
Lowe knows which moves to make
When Lowe took over the reigns of this storied program last June — just a day after Candrea retired — she said she felt no pressure to live up to the high standard he set.
Instead, Lowe forged her own path … right back to the WCWS.
It took some time for the Wildcats to feel comfortable and show exactly what they were capable of. Once Lowe’s team let go of the pressure they felt — replacing the seven super seniors from last year — it pushed through the struggles and just played softball. The Wildcats peaked at the perfect time.
When they hit a rough patch earlier in the season, Lowe met with each player individually to help them through it. In the postseason, the Wildcats each said that these conversations were the key to turning things around.
All season long, Lowe just knew the right time to pull her players to the side to give a word of encouragement and to check in on them — and she knew when to make a replacement on the field.
One such moment came against Oregon State in a win-or-go-home game Friday night. She pulled Netz after she had two consecutive 1-2-3 innings. Yet, Lowe noticed that OSU was hitting the ball hard. Bowen came in and closed out the win.
It takes coaches on all levels time to know how to manage their pitchers effectively and Lowe did it with everything on the line in her very first WCWS appearance as head coach.
Lowe, the only woman coach to take her team to OKC in her very first year, said this journey was special, mostly because of her team.
“I think it’s pretty crazy because I think this team and my journey, I think we’re very similar,” Lowe said. “They felt they were replacing a really big senior class and obviously, when the GOAT (Greatest of All Time, Candrea) leaves it’s a whole different kind of vibe. I thought we were kind of finding our way together and that was what was so special about it. I thank them for putting their faith in me to lead them to (OKC). And it doesn’t go unnoticed that (it) was a big step.
“For a lot of people, there’s a lot of uncertainty when something like that happens and I think they know that I had their back the whole way and that my heart was in it for 18 of them. It was rewarding to see them fight through the hard and get here because I know we all faced that going through the season.”
Paige Dimler’s diving catch against Oregon State last week was one of numerous times a UA player robbed an opponent of a hit in the postseason.
The future is bright
Arizona just keeps going.
The Wildcats only graduate three players off the 2022 team — Bowen, Peanut Martinez and grad transfer Bailey Thompson.
In the circle, it means that Netz will be the most experienced pitcher. After watching one WCWS from the sidelines in 2021 and pitching in all three games in 2022, she knows what it takes to get there and perform at the highest level. She will set the tone right from the start for the younger pitchers — Madi Elish and Jessie Fontes — as well as the freshmen, including highly touted Sydney Somerndike, who is a two-time California Gatorade Player of the Year.
Netz already has the right mindset going into the offseason. After giving up the deciding runs on a 3-run homer against Texas that ended the Wildcats season, she is choosing to let that moment motivate her for next year.
The Wildcats’ big bats in the heart of the lineup — Shar Palacios, Allie Skaggs, Izzy Pacho and Carlie Scupin — will be back. Those four accounted for 77 home runs, including 24 by Skaggs and 20 by Palacios.
The stellar defense will also return, whether it’s Izzy Pacho making “SportsCenter’s” Top 3 plays of the day or Janelle Meoño timing her jump to rob a home run or Sophia Carroll laying out to grab a sharply hit hot in the hole and getting to her knees to save an extra-base hit.
With all the talent and experience coming back next year, expectations will be high. Palacios, an All-Pac-12 first teamer, who will spend her summer competing for USA Softball at the Canada Cup and Japan All-Star Series, is ready to get started.
“I’m just excited for us to be able to do the same thing next year,” she said.
