Indiana Softball Coach Shonda Stanton Exclusive Interview: Road to NCAA Tournament
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana softball is the team to watch this season as the Hoosiers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 under the direction of six-year head coach Shonda Stanton.
Stanton originally came to the program after 18 seasons as head coach at Marshall where she was the program's all-time winningest coach totaling 560 victories.
She said she took the job at Indiana thanks to her now associate head coach Chanda Bell, who's from Indianapolis. Bell was a standout pitcher for Kentucky and inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. She served on Stanton's staff for four seasons at Marshall.
STANTON: "If you look at the history of Indiana softball, we are standing on the shoulders of some greats and legends whether it's legendary coaches, Olympians, Big Ten champions, women's College World Series participants.
I'll be transparent. I looked at the job because my associate coach is from Indy, and she's a Hall of Fame pitcher, and I knew that I couldn't keep her much longer at my previous institution, and so I thought you know what, when that job opened up, it really wasn't on the radar initially, but she was from Indy. I thought I'd take a look, and when I came in for my interview, I was just so impressed. I call it the Hoosier factor.
Bloomington is a beautiful community. IU, obviously you're getting a first class brand in terms of a world-class education, and then when you look at the Big Ten, big stage, the most storied and richest conference in the land. it was something I couldn't pass up, so I felt like we're waking up the sleeping giant. We knew there was a rich tradition even though it was a long time ago. We knew we could do big things here."
In her six seasons, Stanton has had five winning seasons following her first year in 2018. Her best record so far is that of the current season with a 42-16 finish with more games to play. Last time out, the Hoosiers advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship but fell to top-seeded Northwestern 2-1. There's more work to be done, and Stanton's team knows it's required to have the mindset in addition to talent.
STANTON: "Yeah you know I feel like we've been on track when I took this job. We hadn't been to the post season here at Indiana since 2011, and sure COVID got us a little off track, but we took this job pre-portal, so it takes some time to build it, and I think what's pretty cool is my staff had a vision for what it would look like, and now when you sit back and see the fruits of your labor of working hard and you roll up your sleeves and you just put your head down and you go to work, it's been neat to see that.
When you look at what our group has done this year, winning 40 games, going on 23-game win streaks, end of the season with a 10-game win streak — actually 11 going into that tournament. I thought we played fantastic last season. I don't think we could have played any better. When you look at the championship game, we lost it there in the seventh inning, but I wouldn't even say we lost it. It was just two great teams battling.
They got the last swings, so they were able to walk it off in the seventh, but I couldn't be any more proud of our group and impressed with how we performed in the post season Big Ten Tournament. I thought we showed extremely well. We flashed the leather. We pitched great. We do what we typically do in those first few games. We hit well, and so now we're onto regionals, which is exciting."
Stanton and her staff have been a part of many great teams with winning records and respectable talents. What has made this 2023 team unique in their success? It's the roster consistency with no holes left to fill.
STANTON: "We like to say we don't have any gap traps, so we knew in August our identity was going to be our offensive production, and I know the quick storyline is Taryn Kern, Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year. She's putting up video game numbers, leading the NCAA in home runs with the Louisville kid and the Tennessee kid. We'll all be at the same regional, right?
I think when you look at the no-gap trap, Cora Bassett, all-conference performer in front of her. You look at Taylor Minnick, all conference performer behind her. You look at Sarah Stone, all-conference performer. You look at Brianna Copeland, all-tournament team. You look at Avery Parker, all-conference performer, so when you go up and down our lineup 1-9, we score runs at a high rate. We drive in runs at a high rate. That's the no-gap trap, and I think that's why we've been successful.
What do you believe about Indiana softball? We ask them that all the time. Your beliefs proceed your behavior, and so if you believe you're a great hitting team, that you can produce runs on command, you can believe as long as we got swings, we can win a ball game, and I think that's what we've been seeing with our group."
Freshman second baseman Taryn Kern has been the storyline this season, yes. Kern is currently second in the nation with 22 homers on the season and leads the Big Ten in seven statistical categories including slugging percentage (95.9), on-base percentage (58.1), runs batted in (67), etc. Stanton compares her talent to that of some of the best players she's coached.
STANTON: "She's a unique athlete. I've had some good ones, not only here at Indiana but at my previous school. Morgan Zerkle played a stint with Team USA, Athletes Unlimited. I've had Rachel Folden, who's a Cubs hitting instructor, and she was a four-time All American.
[Kern] is with the best of the best. She's elite. She's got one of the best arcs I've ever seen, but I think what separates her as a freshman is her mindset. She has her mindset and has the methods, so when you have those two things and you're a smart hitter and you work hard, she knows what it takes to be successful. She knows what she needs. She puts her mindset and methods to work, and that's a fun thing to watch as a coach."
The on-field chemistry is there, but Stanton has a family of her own and recognizes the importance of creating that familial bond outside of practice with her team.
STANTON: "What I love to say is we're just like a family. I have two daughters, and I know what it's like when one of my daughters tries to take a shirt out of the other daughter's closet. World War III, right?
They're playing hard for each other. They're like siblings. They're going to battle with each other. They're going to celebrate with each other. They're going to have the best of times with each other. They're going to get on each other's nerves, so I think it's so important for people to understand when you throw 20 young women together, you've got to fight hard for each other. Love does. Love is a choice.
Every single day when we show up, we got to choose to love each other. We got to choose to love what we're doing, and that's what you see. Some days it's easier. Some days it's harder. Then you're trying to manage the expectations of these 22-23 year olds. Think about when you were 18 and what your expectations were. A lot of times they were conditional. Happiness is based on happenings.
What I love is I get to watch them grow as young women when they come in our program, and when they leave, they're strong, they're confident, and they're ready to take on the world. I would say we're just like any family. We have it all, and I'm proud to say we fight hard for each other."
You can't have a 40-plus win season without having solid mechanics. Stanton has figured out a recruiting pattern that reels in the best players by using her tool system, which allows the team to keep building off its strongest players.
STANTON: "In this game, there are five tools. When we're out recruiting, we look for one elite tool and other tools that are good that you can build around, and so let's take our shortstop Brooke Benson. You can't talk about our team without talking about her. That kid throws over 70 mph. She's got feet. She's got hands. She's got all the slots, so when you look at her defensive tool, it's superior. It's elite.
When we go across our lineup up and down, our catcher behind the plate, she's got a gun for an arm, so that's an elite tool. We look at Bri Copeland on the mound. That's as close as you can get to a five-tool player. She throws hard. She can hit for power. She can hit for average. She runs well. She has a defensive component.
I think the separator for every sport is the six-tool. It's the mindset. It's what's between the ears. How do you handle failure? What's your failure recovery system look like? The teams that are playing now — there's a lot of teams that are sitting at home, a lot of great teams sitting at home.
We did a little exercise yesterday. It was a nice night. We came back for a second practice. We got them Baked cookies, and they sat in the outfield and they said 'remember when... and now,' and it was like 'hey, remember when we were 0-5 at the Clearwater invite and now we ripped off 23 straight games?'
How fun for them to be able to look back and say it's not all just an upward trajectory. There's lots of ups and downs in a season. We don't ride the wave, and for us I think that's been the separator. We've stayed the course. We've gotten a little bit tougher between the ears, and I think that's why you're seeing us play right now, and I think that's why you're seeing us play not only now, but we're playing well. We're playing our best ball when it matters most, and that's been a game changer."
Up next, the Hoosiers will head to the NCAA Tournament Knoxville regional to take on No. 3 seed Louisville on Friday, May 19 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
STANTON: "I think Louisivlle, as we are, are better than when we squared off against each other. We ended up getting the decision at home, 10-5. That's not any indicator. We go back and forth with them. If we're playing 10 rounds, a boxing match, we're both going to throw our punches. We're each going to get knocked down at times. It's whoever gets off the mat quicker.
It's not about next pitch. It's about next pitch speed. Who has the quickest turnaround when there is a mistake that can bounce back, because both teams are going to throw punches. They have a Freshman of the Year. We have a Freshman of the Year. They've got some veteran kids. They've got a kid with 22 home runs on the season leading the nation. We got a kid with 22 home runs on the season leading the nation.
They've got a good combination of speed and power, and so do we. It's going to be a great matchup for that regional. This regional is stacked. It's a very impressive regional. It's a tough regional, but I can't wait to go to battle with our team. I love the matchup."
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- KERN HONORED: Indiana softball second baseman Taryn Kern was named both Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year. The San Jose, Calif. native was also unanimously named to the All-Freshman Team in addition to First Team All-Big Ten. She's the only Hoosier in program history to win two individual postseason awards. CLICK HERE