Softball team thriving under new coach Kelly Ford

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 26, 2026

The Wolverine Softball team has a phrase they’ve adopted this year from their new head coach, Kelly Ford: Handle it. “We use that for anything. School, home life, having a tough meeting with a teacher, a teammate, a coach,” Ford, who retired from collegiate coaching after 31 seasons in 2024, said to the Journal. “Just lean in, and handle it. That comes with wins and losses, great performances and poor performances. But it’s been a really powerful anchor for our team.”

Senior Brandy Lawson says the phrase helps her have the confidence to tackle any problem that comes up. “You can use it for literally any scenario. It reminds you that no matter what, you can get through it.”

There’s a lot to handle for high schoolers in general, let alone student athletes, and especially a group of student athletes who just got a new coach. Ford was a decorated coach at Mt. San Antonio College and then spent 12 years at Cal State Fullerton, where she collected 410 wins, six Big West Conference titles, seven NCAA tournament appearances and five Big West Coach of the Year awards. Even she has some things to handle with this new job, though.

“This is my first high school gig,” she said. “After 31 years of coaching college softball, I am still a student of the game. We’ve got a great coaching staff put together. I’m learning from them [every day] and we’re only on day 15 together! It’s been a blast.”

One might think the energy at practice around a new coach with such an extensive college-level resume would be full of nerves and intimidation — but the girls are confident and smiling; things feel easy.

Seniors Jillian Otis and Anna Gustafson acknowledged that originally, there was a little bit of nervousness, especially when their first week of practices started at both 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day (“I threw double days at them!” Ford chuckled). But Otis clarified that once they met Ford, they realized that her accolades were intimidating, but her personality was welcoming and comforting. “We thought she would be scary because she’s so knowledgeable and is someone you really respect,” Gustafson said. “But as a person, she is so [likable] and nice!”

Ford focuses on building self-assurance in her athletes because a confident athlete is a coachable athlete. “When an athlete is open to being coached, that changes everything. My number one job is to create an atmosphere of confidence.”

It’s clear to see that it’s already working. The girls are at ease and excited about the new things they’re learning together; Ford focuses on the mentality behind the game, and they spend a lot of time in the classroom.

“I’m down with every new thing,” Lawson said. “Anything she tells me to do, I believe it’s going to work.”

“It’s easy to do what she says because we can see the growth for ourselves,” senior Rylee Drew added. “It’s not just orders without understanding where it comes from. We actually see and feel the growth.”

Growth seems to be the theme of the upcoming season, and their first game is proof of it. Nobody expected them to beat Mount Baker after they had consistently lost to them in the past and had an especially tough loss last year. “We weren’t prepared last year,” Otis said. “But this year, we had a really good momentum and really put in the work our first week of practice, and we beat them 21-4.”