New South Carolina softball coach Ashley Chastain wants to build a standard of contention

Last month, South Carolina named former Charlotte softball head coach its new head coach for softball. 

On Friday, Chastain made an appearance in a Q&A radio interview on 107.5 The Game discussing all things South Carolina since she took over as head coach. 

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In the Q&A, Chastain discussed the new standard and expectations she plans to build at South Carolina.

“There’s no reason that the program should not be a contender to go to Oklahoma City every year,” Chastain said. “We’re going to have to build it to that, but it starts with the belief and the thought process every single day as the kids walk in the building.”

The path for the team to get to Oklahoma City is long, but Chastain says it all starts with success at the conference level.

“Getting to the top half of the SEC and hosting a regional while being a national seed is our path to Oklahoma City and we’ve got to start accomplishing those. It begins with being more competitive in the league and getting the players in here that we need to compete at the top of the league,” Chastain said.

However, getting to the top of the SEC just got harder not just for South Carolina, but for the rest of the SEC. 

On Monday, Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the conference to expand the conference to 16 teams. Oklahoma has won four consecutive national championships and Texas has met Oklahoma in two of the four championships, including this past season.

“It’s the premier league of softball and it’s really exciting that it keeps getting better. It just raises the tide and every aspect of the sport,” Chastain said. “It just forces us to be better and be able to compete with them, but it does definitely make it tougher.”

While Chastain feels getting the team to be in the top half of the SEC will pay off for postseason play, she believes getting there all starts with belief in the locker room.

“To my core, I believe it begins with who’s in the locker room from the players that we have to the coaching staff and support we have and just instilling the belief of where the program should be,” Chastain said.

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Chastain also shared her recipe for how to build a team.

“I think recruiting first and then development second,” Chastain said. “You have to go out and find the right players that can pitch, hit and play defense at this level because you have to be good at all facets. Then once they come on campus, you create that cohesive belief in the locker that we can get to Oklahoma City.”

Chastain will look to start her journey to bring South Carolina to Super Regionals for the first time since 2018 and an appearance in the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 1997.

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