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2022 Season

of the most rewarding years as well because we fought hard.”

Bermudez cited the second game against Radford, then the Hofstra and Drexel series as turning points for the team. She said they were clicking, everything was working and everyone started stepping up.

After falling 10-2 against Radford, JMU came back in the doubleheader to win the second game, 14-2 — Humphrey bounced back after the first contest. In the series finale against Hofstra, Bermudez said she felt more confident because everyone was playing for each other and hitting their mark. Former catcher Lauren Bernett sealing the deal confirmed to Bermudez that JMU was hitting its stride.

Against Drexel, Bermudez said confidence came back. It was the Dukes’ best string of games of the year, she said.

“Everybody was hitting well,” Bermudez said. “Me and Alissa were on the up track with our pitching. It was just, all the pieces started to fit together that weekend and everybody was playing at their best.”

As the season wore on, Bermudez said the staff learned that trust in their pitching came from trust and support in each other. Then, as the field play started improving and pressure came off the backs of the pitchers, it gave them confidence.

She also learned she needed rest days and to focus on herself even in the hardest of times.

“Whether it was to read or to rest or to go get my nails done,” Bermudez said, “we really had to learn how to take advantage of the off day to reset and focus on something maybe other than softball.”

LaPorte said pitchers are always comparing themselves to each other but that her staff has always done a good job at staying true to themselves. So, heading into 2023, JMU’s building off a combination of this — using each other as motivating factors but also focusing on individual aspects of their game and how to make those parts even better.

Individual training, dynamics

In the spring, Bowman said the pitchers work on building speed in fall practices. Last year, Humphrey and Bermudez added 4-5 miles per hour to their pitches ahead of the 2022 season.

This year, Bowman, the pitching coach, said speed-building wasn’t the focus of training.

“We really worked on individual strengths and figuring out what those strengths were,”

Bowman said, “really focusing on their strengths and making those strengths elite was what we focused on.”

Bowman said the pitchers worked “on individual strengths and figuring out what those strengths were.” For example, Humphrey is a rise-ball pitcher and can change speeds. Transfers Brittany Hook and Rebecca Muh, LaPorte said, are strong in their down-ball pitch.

“Dynamic” — LaPorte used the word time and time again when talking about the pitchers in multiple offseason interviews with The Breeze. In softball, LaPorte said “dynamic” means to have different looks, pitches and adaptability.

The head coach said last season was a start, but there were some things the pitching staff needed. LaPorte said the team needed to bring in pitchers who complement the ones JMU already has.

“We have three rise-ball pitchers on staff right now, LaPorte said. “So we wanted to bring somebody that kind of was down. So that’s what we did. And that’s kind of the dynamic.”

JMU brought in Hook from USF and sophomore Rebecca Muh from Georgia. Bowman said the additions aren’t only dynamic but add maturity to the young staff.

The pitchers call Hook the “grandma of the group.”

“Her maturity overall has been so good for our pitching staff,” Bowman said. “because she’s kind of been through some hard moments at USF and then being able to translate that and help. Some of our younger players here, I think, have been a huge help.”

So, with a group full of different types of pitches and strengths, Bowman said it made more sense to focus on individual training.

And the mentality? Bowman said that’s matured, too.

“They’ve figured out what they need in the moment,” Bowman said. “Like, do they need to take a second? Do they need to talk it out? What do they need? And they’re all so different.”

That’s where the infield comes into play. LaPorte said the team only has seven timeouts this season, so she and Bowman can’t walk out to the mound every time. LaPorte said the team has practiced eye contact and feeling out the moment. It determines when the coaches talk to the team during a timeout or just the players.

Building confidence for 2023

Bowman said pitching is 90% confidence.

So when confidence is lacking, as it was for Bermudez last season, the result is runs. And lots of them.

“They can have the skill set,” Bowman said, “and we can go over all the mechanics, but they have to have the trust and the confidence in themselves to execute.”

Rodgers said the weight room builds that confidence, along with things outside of softball. The sophomore pitcher said weight room work has specific programs for positions groups: pitching and the outfield, among others. The “pitching progress” program, Rodgers said, builds up arm motions, what specific motions pitchers use and what the most explosive are so they can be powerful. They’re lifting motions and getting those down pat build her confidence, Rodgers said.

Bowman added JMU’s done a lot of bullpen work during the fall. She said the team did group bullpen work, not just individual, and worked on complementing each other. So while Bowman had the staff on an individual program — finding strengths and growing them — they also worked as a unit.

“We call somebody’s name, and they’re ready and they execute what they’re great at,” Bowman said.

Rodgers said she feels well-rounded after the offseason. She called her freshman season a “humbling experience.” She didn’t know what to expect. Along with the confidence issues and growing pains, she was still trying to figure out how to be a college student.

This fall, it’s still about looking up to her leaders, she said, especially Humphrey. But at the same time, she’s perfecting everything so that “I don’t even have to think about it, I can just do it.”

‘More excited than nervous’

LaPorte said heading into 2022, there was pressure on the pitchers to be like the ones who came before them.

This offseason, in what the head coach calls one of her closest teams to date, everyone’s excited. “More excited than nervous” to be exact, LaPorte said.

Not only excited but confident.

“We believe in each other, which is also really important,” Rodgers said. “If someone’s out pitching the other people on staff, they have our backs, they trust us, and everyone on [the] team trusts us. And that also builds up the confidence within ourselves.”

Bowman said the groups took what they learned — whether from last year on JMU or another team — and remembered it. They’ve learned how to complement each other, work as a staff and calm themselves down. They’ve added dynamic pitchers to complement Humphrey and Rodgers, and they’ve learned to focus on themselves.

“I think the biggest thing with our pitching staff is that they have to be who they are,” LaPorte said. “I think sometimes as pitchers, you’re always comparing yourself to other people. And I think our pitchers have done a really good job at staying true to themselves and really trying to figure out what strength, what role they can have for this team.”

Humphrey was the last on the field. She looked up for just a second as her teammates approached the microphone. LaPorte said her players — Hannah Shifflett, Hallie Hall and KK Mathis — were nervous. They’d never been the center of a press conference.

So Humphrey watched them start talking. Then looked at her ball, set her feet, stared at her catcher at the other end of the bullpen and started again.

Whiff. Smack.