Trisha Ford shares how last year's postseason experience benefits Texas A&M

A year removed from almost upsetting rivals Texas in a regional final in Austin, Texas A&M will be hosting a regional of its own in the NCAA softball tournament this year. And head coach Trisha Ford took away plenty of lessons from the 2023 postseason.

The clearest lesson: The Aggies were good and competitive, but had some notable gaps to close. Ford and Co. went about it intently in the offseason.

“I think for us it’s really just continuing to elevate the program,” Ford said. “And last year we were really close, went to the regional final. But I felt like we could see some of the areas that we needed to improve. One of them was in the pitching circle. I think the other one was defensively. I felt like last year, if you look at our defense and what we look like this year, we have tidied up a lot of things. And then the third thing was just our athleticism. I felt like that was a need for us moving from last year to this year. So for me, I thought when we went into the portal, we hit those areas pretty hard and really the athleticism is what we hit in the portal, hard. If you look at our outfield and our arms, that has changed dramatically.”

She highlighted pitcher Emiley Kennedy, who has gone 21-10 as a starter for the Aggies in 2024, as an example of the improvement she’s seen.

“Lefty and I had some good but serious talks — I knew what she was capable of, I can see it,” Ford said. “And she wanted it. So last year was the first year when she finished the season and she was like, ‘OK, I can see this now. How do I get to — this is what I want, coach.’ So I think kudos to her for being vulnerable in that moment. Like, ‘OK, I believe you now.’ I’ve seen the moments of it and her putting in the work. There’s not magic potion, to be honest with you.”

And more than anything, Ford made clear there isn’t some magical solution she and her staff put in place. It was a methodical approach to addressing the shortcomings and accentuating the strengths of their program.

Now hosting a regional, though, it’s clear it paid off.

“I think it’s us showing them the way and giving them the tools and putting them in environments in which they can flourish,” Ford said. “They got a little taste of it last year and now it was like, ‘OK, I get it now. And this is what we’re going to do.’ And I felt like their focus this year, compared to last year, every single day consistently, was much improved.”