In 2023, the Ithaca College softball team played three pitchers throughout its season, all of which had pitched at least six innings the previous year. In 2024, the team has thrown four different pitchers into the pitching circle, three of which had never thrown a gametime collegiate pitch in their life.
After the departures of pitchers Riley Piromalli ’23 and junior Bella Scolaro in the offseason, the Bombers made their first move in building back up the bullpen with the additions of first-year students Taylor Brunn and Mady Rowell. Not only did the team add Rowell and Brunn to its list of active arms, but it added an arm that had been kept off the mound for three years. Senior Ainsley Rogers made her long awaited debut in the collegiate pitching circle in a game against the University of Scranton on March 3.
With three of the four pitchers never having taken the collegiate pitching circle prior to the season, this marks the least gametime pitching experience heading into a season for the Bombers since 2017. During the 2017 season, the Bombers pitched, at the time, first-year students Emily Holden ’20, Shannon Grage ’20 and Abby Shields ’20 as part of a five-women pitching staff.
So far this season, that has not affected the team negatively and if anything, it has been a positive part of the makings of the staff. Brunn has taken control of the number two position behind junior pitcher Anna Cornell and has clocked a 2.30 ERA through 42.2 innings. What makes Brunn’s current standing in the rotation even more impressive is that she has yet to lose a game, standing at a perfect 4–0.
Brunn said the change from high school ball at General Douglas MacArthur High School in Wantagh, New York to the collegiate level was a substantial transition, but she is happy with how herself and the team have been able to perform.
“It’s very different, going from both a travel and school ball team where you know how everything runs,” Brunn said. “You’re very experienced in that realm, to come to somewhere that you’re the small fish in a big sea, kind of feeling, so adapting to that and learning how to understand how another program is working is a bit of a big adaptation. I didn’t have to go through that since like five years ago, so it was definitely something new, but I think I’m very happy with where I’m at.”
Rowell has done most of her work in relief, pitching a 3.55 ERA through 25.2 innings. Rowell said that when she started playing softball, she knew pitching was what she wanted to do in the sport she loves.
“I started playing softball in first grade and my dad was my coach,” Rowell said. “Then I started pitching in fourth grade and hitting kind of just sucked, that’s when I figured that’s what I like to do. Don’t like hitting, so PO.”
Being a PO is not unique to Rowell as Cornell is also a PO on the team. Rogers, who bats and pitches, said that because Cornell and Rowell are both POs they will often be together throughout practice while Rogers and Brunn will go off to hit together when the time comes. While this does split the room positionally, it helps the two pairs grow closer as a result of always being around each other.
“The way our dynamic for the bullpen has been, its more Anna has been taking Mady under her wing, and I’ve been taking Taylor, just because during practices Mady and Anna don’t hit, so that way they spend more time together while Taylor and I go and hit in the cages,” Rogers said. “So it’s easier that it’s been split up that way, but they’ve been doing great, they’re working hard and it’s shown.”
With the introduction to collegiate playtime immediately, nerves can come quickly. Rowell said that while initially the pressure of the stage crept in, she has been able to adapt quickly because of support from upperclassmen like Rogers and Cornell and prior experience in the game.
“Scranton, I was really nervous but as I went on and my teammates gave me some really good advice and just looking at it through that perspective instead of like, ‘Oh crap, I’m playing college softball,’ has been really helpful and I’m not nervous anymore,” Rowell said. “I’ve been playing the game since first grade.”
The unorthodox of the three new members of the game day pitching staff is Rogers. Rogers joined the Bombers in 2021 after playing her high school ball at Averill Park High School in Averill Park, New York. Rogers appeared in just two games her first-year season and two games her junior season, both of which were reps at the plate. After three years of blood, sweat and tears, Rogers finally got the call to step on the pitcher’s mound.
So far this season, Rogers has pitched 9.1 innings and has got the call to start two games. This includes three games in which Rogers did not give up a run.
To make Rogers’ senior year emergence even more memorable, in Rogers’ first ever collegiate hit on March 26 against Nazareth College, she blasted a pitch to left center for a three run home run.
Rogers said that despite having to wait this long, doubt that she would get to stand on the bump never crept in.
“I always thought that I was going to get there at one point,” Rogers said. “It was just a matter of when it was going to be my time, so I always was working hard to stay ready for that time when it came.”
In regard to the trust shown from her coaches and teammates, Rogers said that she appreciated the reinforcement they have given her and that she believes through that hard work she has given the staff a reason to trust in her.
“I think that they’ve [the coaches] always had confidence in me,” Rogers said. “It’s just more situational, like when it is my time and when those opportunities come up, just taking advantage of them. Knowing that they could put me in that position and knowing that I can produce.”
The combination of new pitchers has not infringed on the feeling of the team’s bond. Instead, Rowell said the four play off each other well and the support they give each other helps her performance.
“I think we have a good mix of pitchers and different styles,” Rowell said. “We all have each other’s backs and I think it’s going to work out really well. My goal personally is just to go out and throw as many innings as I’m going to get. I just want to make the most out of whatever opportunities I get. Just taking it one game at a time.”
Rowell pointed to Cornell and Rogers and said they have been very conscious in helping her and Brunn along.
“[Rogers and Cornell] have genuinely been so helpful,” Rowell said. “Anna and I are both POs so we don’t hit. But l when they go off even if it’s just walking me through what a game day’s like or helping me adjust to the strike zone, going through the scout and stuff like that. She has such a high softball IQ that I’m really grateful that I get to learn from her and like Ainsley’s been super helpful. It’s like whether we just grab dinner on a Monday night or someone to talk to has been really awesome.”
Rogers went deeper into the support system and said the team makes a specific effort every game to have everyone know that the team has their back.
“We do this thing before games where it’s like a wheel picker with all of our names on it will go through and whoever pops that’s your person for today,” Rogers said. “We write [their name] on our wrist. I had Taylor Brunn yesterday. So that is your person for the day, you are their biggest cheerleader and going off of that and feeding off of that.”
In light of personal performance and trying to solidify their spot on the team, Brunn said the goal of the staff is only to win, selfishness is not a choice for the group.
“Whenever I’m involved in the game, win the game, that’s always my goal, to win the game,” Brunn said. “In terms of personal goals, I don’t really have any, like as crazy as it sounds, the only personal goals that I have is to win every game that I’m a part of or give my team the best chance to win. I don’t really think of personal goals in terms of stats or anything like that, which no shade to anyone that does, you do you, I’m gonna do me. In terms of goals with the team – win a Liberty League championship, plain and simple, cut and dry, that is everyone’s goal.”
