A year ago, Cheyenne Coyle, Kasey Fagan and Hannah Rogers were rivals.
Since Rogers and Fagan were 12-years-old, they’ve competed against one another. Coyle’s travel team, the Orange County Batbusters, was eliminated from nationals by Team North Florida — a squad led by Fagan and her younger sister, 2011 UF commit Sami Fagan.
“Once we met each other, we were like, ‘I didn’t really like you when we were playing against each other,’” the Gators third baseman said. “But we’re friends now.”
The freshmen trio are roommates and have banded together to help lead Florida to a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday in Gainesville.
Rogers ended the regular season leading the Southeastern Conference in wins. Coyle carries a .313 batting average with 13 home runs, and Fagan has committed fewer errors than any other non-catcher in the Gators infield.
But their first collegiate postseason will be magnified by both uncharted territory and circumstance.
With the most successful senior class in UF softball history on its way out, this postseason is the last chance for the seniors to claim a national title after three failed trips to the Women’s College World Series.
Coach Tim Walton said the freshmen will be vital to reaching the team’s goal.
“One plays short, one plays third, one pitches — and is going to pitch a lot,” he said. “If we’re going to have a chance to win games, they better play to another level, and they better play with the confidence they’ve played with the whole year long.”
Florida’s reliance on its three freshman starters could become even more necessary if its upperclassmen continue to struggle.
In the past seven games, UF’s seniors Kelsey Bruder, Megan Bush, Tiffany DeFelice and Aja Paculba have hit a combined .231 with nine RBIs, 12 strikeouts and two home runs — not ideal considering three of the four flirted with or hit above .400 all season. In comparison, the seniors batted .315 with 26 RBIs and 12 home runs in the seven games before the aforementioned stretch.
“They’re going to come back soon,” Rogers said of the seniors. “They fight.”
Meanwhile, Coyle and Fagan have combined to bat .297 with seven RBIs and three homers (all from Coyle) during the past seven games. Included is Coyle’s walk-off blast in Florida’s May 6 come-from-behind win over Tennessee, which helped keep the Gators’ SEC East hopes alive.
In the circle, Rogers will be as important as ever. Senior right-hander Stephanie Brombacher has yet to pitch a complete game since returning from a bicep injury on April 16.
Since coming back, Brombacher has worked 39 innings, giving up 11 earned runs and striking out 20. During the same time, her more power-oriented freshman sidekick has thrown 59 innings, also surrendering 11 earned runs but notching 47 punch-outs.
“Hannah comes in there and she’s blowing it by people,” Fagan said. “So I think that’s hard to catch up to after you’ve seen Steph.”
Coyle grew up cheering for her hometown UCLA Bruins -— one of the three teams in Gainesville this weekend for the UF Regional -— and the Arizona Wildcats, where her brother played baseball, in the NCAA Tournament. Fagan remembers watching Ali Gardiner’s walk-off shot against Alabama that sent UF to the 2009 national championship series.
Starting this Friday at 6 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman, they’ll each have a chance to make their own lasting postseason memories.
