Devils in Detail
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ASU Softball: Why Trisha Ford is the Perfect Fit

By Hunter Robinson

Dec 23, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky during the first half against the Detroit Titans at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 23, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky during the first half against the Detroit Titans at Wells-Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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The ASU Softball team hired Trisha Ford earlier this week to take over as head coach after an underwhelming 2016 season.

Ford comes in at a time where ASU fans are starting to become disgruntled with the lack of success the team has had the past two seasons, and they are looking for some sort of explanation. While they won’t get an explanation for the shaky past two seasons from Athletic Director Ray Anderson, he did get a new head coach to end this chapter in ASU Softball and write a new one.

Coach Ford was the perfect hire to take ASU into the future and to reinstate ASU Softball as a superpower in NCAA women’s softball.

Coach Ford’s resume is one that is impressive and has great versatility. Most recently she served as head coach of Fresno State, where she won Mountain West Coach of the Year twice in a row.

Before Fresno, Ford was at Stanford University for nine years where she served as an associate head coach for four years and was a mentor for several pitchers.

Her most notable achievement at Stanford was her role as mentor of Teagan Gerhart during Gerhart’s freshman and sophomore seasons.

During those two seasons Gerhart record a combined 1.69 ERA along with throwing three consecutive no hitters in her freshman season.

Ford’s ability to get the most out of her pitchers is something that ASU desperately needs.

Outside of Kelsey Kessler, ASU’s pitching staff had questions and concerns surrounding them all season long. With those concerns being realized during ASU’s 11 game losing streak that was a result of not having quality pitching.

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Coach Ford’s ability to connect with pitchers and get the best out of them isn’t the only talent that she has. Another great talent coach Ford has is recruiting.

During her time at both Stanford and Fresno State, coach Ford did a lot of recruiting.

She was able to use her experience playing softball in college to connect with recruits, a quality that helps leave an impression in a recruit’s mind.

With coach Ford, experience is the name of the game. Not only has she accumulated a lot of experience while coaching, but her time as a player gave her experiences that allow her to connect to players more than coaches that simply know the strategy of the game.

Coach Ford is a young coach ready to burst onto the scene, and ASU would be the perfect place for her to do it.

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