MWSU Softball 2022 Recap

Missouri Western saw a lot of important faces leave in this school year. Some may argue that softball’s might have been one of the most shocking. After a storied career as the head coach for Missouri Western Softball, Jennifer Bagley Trotter left the Griffons for her home state and helped a team that had just risen to Division 1.

Nothing to fear as in came Joe Yegge, a coach with 25 years of experience and at the time 616–225 on his career. Yegge always takes time to figure it out, as he did with this group that was hesitant at first. He’s impressed with his team first mentality among leading these Griffons. Not caring about school rivalries or any past drama, only about his team and winning their ball games.

In his first year as head coach of these Griffons they were a game shy of reaching the MIAA Conference Final. But to get to that point you have to look at their journey in the regular season.

Some would agree that the season started out rocky. Their first win did not come until the fourth game of the season in their participation in the Minnesota State DII Softball Classic. They were bested in an extra inning game against Minnesota Duluth and their matchup against Maryville being canceled thanks to the ever famous Minnesota cold.

They would end up riding the emotional roller coaster of falling and overcoming teams. This went on until they came home and found their groove in the Fairfield Inn and Suites Classic where they won every game.

One of the more impressive wins of the year came from their one game trip to University of Illinois-Springfield. They excelled as a group in their trip to the land of Lincoln. Missouri Western were down 4–0 until the fifth inning, then the bats started scorching. Freshman Mackenzie Devine had her kindling to this fire of an inning that consisted of a collegiate first, a three run bomb over the fence. All of Missouri Western’s 10 runs in this game came from the fifth inning with Illinois-Springfield only getting one more before the day was over.

With hard work and success comes recognition for these lady Griffons. The MIAA recognized Sydney Rader, Sydni Hawkins and Emma Hoffart as all conference players. Rader earned her way to a second team nod from her impressive 2.40 ERA. One notch on Hawkins impressive season to land her on second team with Rader was a .356 batting average in her final year as a Griffon.

Eventual Missouri Western Athletics female athlete of the year senior Emma Hoffart landed on the honorable mention list with a hammering .340 batting average. Hoffart would also win a Tom Smith Career achievement award, heavily cementing her Griffon legacy in her final collegiate season.

Missouri Western Softball ended their regular season with an eight game win streak. Consisting of wins against conference foes such as Pittsburg State, Missouri Southern, Lincoln University and Central Missouri. All together the record was 30–22 with a 17–9 conference record.