NC State’s Ellie Goins ‘set the standard’ for outfield play under new coaching staff

It seems like every series NC State softball has played this season, sophomore outfielder Ellie Goins has made a highlight-reel catch.

Whether it was a home-run robbing grab over the top of the wall that put her on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays or laying out for a fly ball, Goins has consistently made her presence known in the outfield. Goins appears to be a magnet for the ball, and her teammates have equated her to a dog playing fetch.

“See ball, catch ball,” Goins said with a laugh. “That’s what I do. I love doing it. I love making plays for my team and just keeping the energy in our dugout in any way that I can.”

Though Goins has consistently found ways to make head-turning plays in the middle of the outfield for the Pack, a preseason conversation with former LSU outfielder Aliyah Andrews, lit a new fire under her. 

First-year NC State coach Lindsay Leftwich spent 12 seasons as an assistant at LSU, coaching Andrews along the way, so she invited the outfielder to Raleigh for a camp. Andrews and Goins ended up working together in the outfield with the campers and left a simple message for the Pack’s second-year player. 

“If you would just go like you could catch everything and don’t look back, you would be surprised in what you could catch,” Andrews told Goins.

That phrase was likely the same message Leftwich had given Andrews years earlier, and it worked out for her. Now, it seems to have done the same for Goins. 

Ever since that conversation, Goins has attempted to catch anything and everything sent her direction. Practice is an opportunity for the stout defender to know her limits. She knows how far is too far to dive for a ball, while also growing comfortable with putting her body on the line for an out. 

Goins’ range has expanded and seems to be able to cover practically all of center field at Dail Park. 

“It makes you just so much more brave, and that’s been really fun to watch her grow into that,” Leftwich said. “It’s been really neat to watch her grow in confidence of like, ‘I’m good enough to do this.’”

That confidence has not just grown in Goins’ head, but it has also reached Leftwich’s as well. She doesn’t even have to watch each time a ball is hit to center field. Instead, the new head coach begins to write “F8” in her notes and moves on to the next batter. 

“She has made us be so confident that she’s going to catch it, that I don’t even think twice that she’s not going to get here,” Leftwich said. 

While there is no shortage of thinking Goins, who is likely a candidate for a gold glove award in the outfield this year, her only thought when a ball is headed her direction is to track the ball all the way into her glove. 

That strategy has paid off for the sophomore, who boasts a perfect fielding percentage and has recorded 79 putouts this spring. 

But for Goins, who seemingly can make every play in the book look easy, finding ways to affect the game in the field has proved to be a blast. 

“I find a lot of joy,” Goins said. “I know it probably sucks for the batter, but it brings a lot of life and energy to our team when we can make defensive plays. The saying is ‘defense wins championships.’”

Leftwich, though, thinks her center fielder has set the bar for Wolfpack softball moving forward.

“I think she makes us better from a work ethic standpoint, from a blue-collar hand in the dirt standpoint,” Leftwich said. “I think she pushes us to do more and to hold the level of play to a different standard. … She will set the standard for what our outfield play should look like for the rest of my time here.”