Everything Ashley Chastain Woodard said after South Carolina advanced to Super Regional

South Carolina softball is heading back to a Super Regional for the first time since 2018. Following an 8-0 run-rule win over North Florida on Sunday, head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard spoke to the media after the game. Here’s everything she had to say.

Opening statement

“I don’t know if I have words, to be honest. I’m just really proud of everyone who is involved with the program. It takes a village to do something like this, and it’s a special group. I’m really excited that we’re going to be right back here a week from now. It’s just a testament to the belief that these guys had in everything we talked about from day one. It’s really hard to do. We play in the best conference in the country and put ourselves in a position to host, and then to come through as the regional champs, and then have an opportunity to go to Supers next weekend, it’s just really special. It’s hard to do. I’m really proud of the staff, proud of the players, and then really everyone that’s been involved every step of the way since last summer.”

You said before the regional that you knew that you were going to host this year when you came in. Did you know there was going to be this, that you were going to be hosting the Super? Did that thought even cross your mind when you took over?

“Yeah, I mean, I think anything’s possible, and I have a ton of belief in the players and the ones that you know chose to stay, and the ones that came in. So I knew it was definitely possible. I think, the beginning, you know, hosting a regional was definitely something that we thought was very attainable for the group that started training in August, you know, and a top-eight seed. I mean, you look around at the conference, and you look around at the game right now, and you’re just like, man, that’s really hard to do. So I don’t want to say I was surprised, because I think our resume granted us the eight seed for sure. I think we earned the seed outright.

“If you put a blind resume together, I mean, I think we would have gotten picked. So I think we earned it. But we just wanted a chance to host a regional. A little extra softball here for the fans would be great for an extra week. So it’s special. These are moments and weeks that you never forget. I’m really happy for the players. I mean, I’m really happy for these guys because they, you know, this is it. They don’t get to play much after this is over. So, just to be able to go out like this, you always want to give them this experience. As a coach, you dream of giving them this experience. And so to see it come to fruition is, you know, like I said, at some point in the summer, I guess I’ll process it all, but we still got ball to play.”

Two-out hitting today was off the charts, quite frankly. What gives you guys the edge in those situations? What allows you guys to be able to come through in those situations as often as you did today?

“I think it’s a combination of a couple of things. It’s funny you mentioned the two outs because Abby Knight was in the dugout calling us the two-out bandits. So she tagged us the two-out bandits. But I think today really reminded me of how we played earlier in the year. I mean, I was thinking back to some of our wins in February and March early on, like it took us an at-bat or two. That third time through is really when we came through a lot of times, and all of a sudden, we walk it off early. So we’ve done that a lot. I felt like today really felt like early in the year, February, March.

“Abby’s right when she talks about contagious, like, everything you do is contagious, as good or bad. We talk a lot about that internally. So, you know, just really relying on each other, playing pass the bat, that’s what they call it, you know, just continuing to love the next person with a lot of good energy at that foot back. And that’s how you start stringing stuff together. And you look up and all of a sudden, you scored eight runs with two outs. So that’s who we were.”

Sam Gress had a really good four innings again today. What has made her so consistent this year for you guys, and how confident does that make you, seeing what she did today going into Supers?

“I mean, I think we all have the utmost confidence in Sam. I don’t stand alone in that. Sam just has such a competitive spirit. She has a competitive heart. I thought you saw that in the rundown yesterday, when she dove on the ground to get the out. But Sam just is kind of like the refuse to lose mentality. And so I think that always plays her stuff up, like she always gives herself a chance to get out, no matter what the ball is doing. So I thought she was locked in. I thought it was the right choice for her to open up the game again. And right now, we really like bringing Jori Heard out of the bullpen. I think she’s doing really, really well in that role. And I don’t know what we’ll do next weekend. Obviously, a lot to still decide. But I think the two of them and the roles that they played all weekend obviously really worked for us, right?”

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Two wins away from where you all ultimately want to be. How do you keep the ladies in the moment? Because it’s only natural to think ahead to what could be after next weekend.

“Yeah, I’m going to do my best. I keep them in the moment. Yeah, I mean, there’s no doubt. Once you reach a certain point, your mind is, you know, hey, like we’re a few away from the biggest stage that this stage we’ve always dreamed of playing on, so I think we’ll definitely talk through that this week. I think at some point it becomes super motivating and inspiring that we’re so close. I think that there comes a point where it almost works in your favor.

“I think when you’re too far away from it, it doesn’t work in your favor. But I think once you get inching closer to where you want to go, I think it puts a lot of wind in your sails. So we’re going to talk a lot about it. We want to make plans to go to Oklahoma at the end of the Super Regional next weekend, and so I think it’ll put wind in our sails. I’m not super worried about them being in the present moment, because at this point, they know what we’ve got to do. So we got to win a series next weekend against a really good team that will come from the West, and I think they still have to play tonight, so I’m not so sure we know who that is going to be yet.”

You talked about knowing the roster and knowing the capabilities. Did you expect to set a single-season record with RBIs this season? And what’s your impression of that?

“I absolutely expected to set it. And the reason for that is because I think we have the best hitting coach in the country, Kadie Browder, our associate head coach, does anything and everything offensive in our program. I try not to mess the offense up. I am more of a defensive pitching person myself. She’s really good, like she finds the right things to say. She knows the right information to give them. She’s led our offense from day one. I sometimes throw BP, as you saw the other day, but I try to let her just, that’s her lane, make those decisions.

“So no, I’m not surprised that we’ve broken many records. I think at this point, I think we broke the doubles record today. I mean, it’s just fun milestones, right? Fun milestones that I think set the foundation and expectation of the offenses that we’re going to have in the future, which is really fun. So Katie’s a Gamecock through and through. She’s been a Gamecock her whole life. Her family is rooted here in Columbia. Her dad played football here. Being here, leading the program means just as much to her as it means to me. When you have someone in the driver’s seat leading your offense like that, I think we’re going to break a lot of records.”

I know yesterday we laughed about your sixth sense and knowing when the game is going to turn, but today we saw it again in those middle innings, making the substitutions, with the pinch running and whatnot. How have you developed that success to know that?

“Usually, that’s not just me making that decision. The credit goes to the whole staff. We’ve coached a lot of years together at this point. I think we know each other really well, and we can kind of maybe sometimes telepathically communicate from across the field. But it’s softball. The free stuff is awesome. We can always upgrade a run. So if we really feel like we have a chance to score or put someone in scoring position, we’re going to do that.

“And we’ve got so many players who enter the game and make such an impact on us winning. That’s how we want to build the program. We want to build the program where, if you’re wearing the uniform, if you’re in the dugout, you have a chance to impact a game. Some of those moments, they might not be flashy, and it might be the only time you get to influence the game, but it could be the difference in the game. So we just value that. We put a lot of emphasis on it. We just try to make the best decisions that we can as the game goes along. So I give it my best. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”

What does it mean to you that not just current fans or current players, but people from all over Gamecock softball, are going to experience this run?

“Yeah, it means a lot, and just to have the influence in the platform that we have, it’s a blessing, and we’re all really grateful for it. Just to kind of reenergize everyone’s thought process on the program. And so many of those people have shown up all year, and they’re in the stands almost everything, every single time we play. I mean, I talked to Tiff Tootle, who’s on our wall of honor, All-American after the game today.

“So it makes a difference. Yeah, it makes a difference to feel like people are behind you, and people believe in what you’re doing, and people believe in these guys. So I hear from so many people who played in the program, who are involved with the program, after every time I play. I mean, I have a hard time sometimes answering all my text messages. But it’s just a blessing, and I’m so grateful for all the support.”

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