This Spring, Wofford College has introduced a new sport to campus in its softball program. Plans for this program were announced in the summer of 2021. It was a lengthy process to set the foundation for the project, but the work paid off and they are now an official competitor in the Southern Conference. This expands the conference to eight competitors competing for the highly desired title of conference champion.
Wofford hired Chelsea Butler to break ground on the new program as head coach. Butler had experience as the associate head coach at Presbyterian College and was most recently on the coaching staff at the University of Maryland for three years. In her last season at Maryland, the Terps had racked up 29 wins and a fifth place finish, which was their highest rank since joining the Big 10 Conference. A fresh softball team coming to an area she was all too familiar with sparked her interested and she applied for the position. Butler was officially hired as head coach on May 25, 2022.
Coach Chelsea Butler told extrainningsoftball.com about the process of building a new Division 1 softball team at Wofford College.
“Last year when we were practicing in the spring and all my colleagues and friends were playing games, I was a little jealous,” Butler said. “But I’m so glad now looking back that we had the year to lay the foundation of what we want and establish our expectations.”
The recruiting process for the up-and-coming team has been very successful with 11 players signing in 2022 and seven in 2023. They join the original recruiting class of nine players that includes Kaytlin Greenwood, AJ Felices, Ansleigh Epps, Gracie Parker, Bayley Betsill, Lilly Compton, Cadan Brinkman, Ally Bigham and Kate Platte.
Ally Bigham is a senior transfer from Samford University and told foxcarolina.com about her excitement to be a captain for a brand new program.
“Honestly, the one reason I stayed in college athletics was because of this opportunity,” Bigham said. “And then I came in and I thought it was just an amazing experience to be able to start a program. I mean, how many people get to say that they’ve done that in college athletics? It’s very few. So I feel super blessed to have that opportunity.”
Wofford had their first official game on Feb. 8 against Eastern Kentucky University. Eastern Kentucky’s head coach, Jane Worthington, was Butler’s coach while she was a player at Eastern Kentucky. Butler was also awarded her first coaching job at Eastern Kentucky by Worthington making this moment full-circle. As of Feb. 29, Wofford has secured a total of five wins and five losses in its inaugural season.
Natia Mosqueda (10) plays softball and is looking forward to seeing how the Wofford Softball team does this season.
“I am glad there is a new program coming to the area,” Mosqueda said. “It will be nice for local athletes who want to stay close to home.”
