Unlike other sports, the McCallum softball team doesn’t have to wait until its regular season to compete with teams in the Austin area. Softball’s typical season begins in March when they play the other teams in their district, and before that, in February, they will scrimmage teams in the surrounding districts. Even before their scrimmages, girls in softball will get together in the fall and play teams all around Austin in the fall ball league. However, being able to play a lot of teams hasn’t always been the case. From when fall ball started three years ago to now, the program has gotten a lot bigger. In past years, the number of girls who play fall ball has been limited, but this year has been different.
Softball coach Rachel Whatley doesn’t coach the fall ball teams, but she supports them by going to their games and watching them play.
“This year is the most participation we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Whatley said, “It’s a good thing to see younger kids, especially because I get to see them play for the first time.”
The growing participation is good for coaches like Whately because they get to see the girls’ skills before the regular season, even though they can’t coach the teams. According to UIL softball offseason regulations, coaches cannot schedule matched games or coach girls on a team that are on their roster, including those in the fall ball league.
The fall ball league isn’t just good for coaches. Fall ball helps the softball players as well because it develops strong team connections and skills development, which is a skill new players don’t always have when they start playing in the regular season.
“I’ve definitely seen people who played in the last few years that started softball brand new with zero experience,” Whatley said. ”By the end of fall ball, their throwing is much improved, and they know some basic concepts much better.”
The skills the girls build in fall ball are a big reason fall ball even exists. Senior Tallulah McColgin, a utility player for the McCallum softball team, has been playing fall ball for three years and sees fall ball as a way to develop skills needed for the regular season.
“The improvements we could make are always things we’re striving to be better with,” McColgin said. “Better defense, better offense, but I can already see everybody getting better with that, and that is kind of the point of fall ball.”
Creating strong team connections is just as important as skill building, and fall ball accomplishes that, too. Even though participation in the league is optional, team bonding is effective.
“There has been a bigger bond,” senior first baseman Jay Sanchez said. “People have improved, and we’ve grown as a team and bonded more as a team. We’ve won more games.”
Whether you are an experienced fall ball player like Sanchez or someone new to the team like pitcher and middle infielder Emilia Vences, team bonding is something that is a part of the game.
“I signed up for fall ball so I could get to know the other girls and the team better,” Vences said. “The freshmen can learn from the older girls because they have already been through it.”
The connections the team makes in the offseason weren’t always the case. Before the fall ball league was created, and before participation was big, the team could only connect in the spring with whichever team they were on.
“We get separated in the spring with JV and varsity, we don’t really collide with the other teammates,” Sanchez said.
The fall ball league is relatively new at McCallum, but since the softball team has joined, they have seen improvements with other teams that participate. In the first few years, the team played in a fall ball district including teams such as Bowie, Austin High and Del Valle. In their current fall ball district, the team competes with Vandegrift, McNeil and Anderson.
“I think the first few years they were in a pretty easy fall ball league and they won a lot more games, but the competition was a lot less competitive than it is in the current league,” Whatley said.
According to Sanchez, competitive games are often more fun to play, especially if it’s a rivalry game.
“I would say the most fun game was the last game when we went against Anderson because there was a lot of energy,” Sanchez said. “Even though we made some mistakes, it was something we could laugh at.” Competing with other teams, developing skills, and building team chemistry are all benefits that come with a successful fall ball season.
“Fall ball this season has been really successful,” McColgin said. “Honestly, I think fall ball is great as it is.”
Ever since softball’s fall ball started at McCallum three years ago, it has evolved and grown in many areas. No one knows what the next fall ball season will look like, but as McColgin said, maybe it’s already where it needs to be.
