Weather is a major factor in Midwestern softball. The bulk of the Arizona Wildcats are getting a rare view of that this weekend in Ames, Iowa where their weekend series against Iowa State had to be significantly altered due to expected rain and cold. Pitcher Jalen Adams and second baseman Sereniti Trice are used to it, though.
Adams grew up in Fort Dodge and played her first three years of college at Iowa. Trice finished high school in San Diego, but she was born in Illinois and was on the Cyclones’
roster her first year. They know what it means to navigate the cold, snow, and rain to play softball.
“It was fun at Iowa State,” Trice said. “I mean, seeing the snow is always an experience when you’re used to the sunshine, so I had a lot of fun experiencing that.”
Trice also had a positive experience with the people in Ames.
“Was actually trying to figure out if I can meet up with some of my teammates, maybe go to a dinner,” Trice said. “Super excited to go back and see them. Great relationship. Excited to see the coaching staff. I haven’t seen them in a while, so it’ll be fun to go back.”
She’s really looking forward to one thing, though.
“Oooh! Boulder Tap House!” Trice said. “I’m planning to go this weekend, take my family and some of the teammates to Boulder Tap House. Best place ever.”
This experience will be different than what Adams experienced growing up, though. Like many places in the Midwest, Iowa does not play high school softball in the late winter and early spring. To truly make the sport a national pursuit, it has to be moved to summer in some places.
“Growing up, it was, all I really knew was softball’s in the summertime, so I didn’t think too much of it,” Adams said. “And then, I mean, once you get to college, you kind of just transition to springtime.”
There were some opportunities in the spring, though.
“I did spring tournaments and stuff like that with my different travel ball teams,” Adams said. “But whenever the weekend was nice, we could go outside. We had some indoor tournaments early on in the spring.”
That has helped the sport grow, but it also adds complications for those pursuing spots on college rosters.
“It kind of sometimes…throws a wrench in travel ball, but, man, talk about Iowa softball in general,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “I mean, the amount of great pitching, great players that have come out of Iowa recently, as you look across the country in DI softball, has been great.”
Lowe thinks the development of players like Adams only means more development in Iowa.
“She’s someone that’s gonna go and give back to her community and grow it even more, which is even, I think on my end cooler, to see that she’s going to help develop those little ones that are looking up to her right now,” Lowe said.
Adams and Trice are teammates now, but last year they were on the opposite sides of an in-state rivalry. Trice and the Cyclones came out on top 9-5 in Ames.
Arizona’s current second baseman went 2 for 4 and scored a run that day. Adams didn’t take the loss, but she did pitch on a day that was difficult for the Hawkeyes’ pitching staff. The group gave up 11 hits and five walks that day.
“Sereniti was definitely the toughest out on the team,” Adams said. “I don’t know if I did get you out, actually.“
Trice acknowledged that one of her two outs did come at the hands of Adams.
“It was tough then, and I’m really, really happy that we’re on the same team now,” Adams said.
Notes
- Arizona freshman first baseman Kez Lucas was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week after Arizona beat GCU and swept Baylor last week to extend its winning streak to six straight games. She went 8-for-15 with a double, a home run, and a walk in four games. She scored three runs and had three RBI.
- The Wildcats and Cyclones will play a doubleheader on Easter Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. MST. On Monday, the two teams finish the series at 11 a.m. MST. All three games will stream on ESPN+. Afterwards, they will fly directly to Baton Rouge to take on LSU next Friday.
- Arizona is currently ranked No. 14 by NFCA and Softball America. D1 Softball and USA Softball have the Wildcats at No. 13. More importantly for their postseason hosting hopes, the ‘Cats are No. 12 in RPI, No. 13 in DSR, and No. 14 in KPI.
