Despite an early postseason departure, the Missouri softball team (47-14) witnessed signs of a promising future.
The team surrendered the Big 12 Conference title to Oklahoma in its final season in the league before transitioning to the Southeastern Conference and was sidelined from the Women’s College World Series for the first time in three years following a 2-1 series upset to Louisiana State University in the Columbia Super Regional.
But a pack of 10 freshmen will return to Missouri’s lineup in 2013, and they will be led by infielder Corrin Genovese.
Genovese was a highly coveted recruit heading into the season, choosing Missouri over offers from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State among several others. The New York native, a three-time Under Armour All-American in high school, said she was drawn to MU because of the family-like atmosphere on campus and in Columbia.
“My parents asked me to take into account where I would want my home away from home to be, especially if they were sending me halfway across the country,” Genovese said. “They needed to know that I felt very secure about where I was, and they saw it in my eyes that I loved Missouri and felt safe going there.”
Before the season began, coach Ehren Earleywine noted Genovese’s bright personality and composed demeanor on the field.
“She’s number one,” Earleywine said. “She just wears it. You can see it all over her body, and I wish my whole team was like that, because those type of kids there, you don’t have to worry when the lights get really bright, and when there’s a big stage—that’s what wins in championships, kids like that.”
Genovese moved around the infield this season, spending time at both second and third base before ultimately landing the starting shortstop position.
“Corrin’s the best infielder in the Big 12, and maybe in the country, so putting your best infielder at shortstop can’t be a bad move,” Earleywine said midway through the season.
Genovese took Earleywine’s move in stride, later earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors after committing two errors out of 90 attempts in regular season play.
Despite being the first freshman to win the conference designation, Genovese still sees room for improvement in her performance.
“Next season, I expect myself to continue being a standout defender,” she said. “But I also expect my hitting to be back as one of the strongest in the lineup, giving my teammates the opportunity to knock me in as a run.”
Genovese said she sees ways the team can improve for more hopeful postseason runs.
“We need more timely hitting when base runners are in scoring position,” she said. “Also, championships are won in the offseason. Regardless to how good (redshirt junior pitcher) Chelsea Thomas is, we need to produce more runs to secure the wins so Chelsea doesn’t feel the pressure of having to be perfect.”
It will be Genovese, an outgoing and confident newcomer, who will help foster these changes as the program transitions into the SEC’s culture.
“I know what we have to do to get to where we need to go,” she said. “We fell short of our goal this year and, as a freshman, it is nice to have a year under my belt. I now know how hard we will have to work to get back to our ultimate goal, which is to win a national title.”