Senior righthanded pitcher Mackenzie Popescue winds up to release the ball. ASU beat Utah 4-3 on Friday, April 11, 2014. (Photo by Mario Mendez)We knew this day was coming.
With ASU softball pitchers Dallas Escobedo and Mackenzie Popescue gone, there are concerns about how to replace them.
In softball, there isn’t a more important position than the pitcher. Only a couple players actually throw, elevating the value of an individual player. In the postseason, pitchers turn into complete workhorses, able to pitch a game in its entirety.
The departed duo started all but four of ASU’s games in the past two seasons, while the two pitching holdovers from last season have a combined 33 career innings.
“If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you’re going to graduate good players every year, and you got to be able to replace them and move on,” ASU coach Craig Nicholson said.
Topping off the pitching experience question marks, ASU associate head coach/pitching coach Chuck D’Arcy left and took the pitching coach job at California. The lateral program move was surprising considering he’s not upgrading his position. Assistant coach Boo Gillette, who was previously the pitching coach at North Carolina and Purdue, takes over for D’Arcy as pitching coach.
“It is what it is,” Nicholson said. “He wanted to look at some other things. Obviously in this profession, that’s the way that it goes.”
With the experienced pitchers moving on, ASU filled the roster hole by bringing in four new pitchers in addition to the two returners.
Freshman Breanna Macha and junior Kelsey Kessler are the early favorites to become ASU’s mainstays, though their roles are undefined at this point.
Kessler (32-21, 2.38 ERA) was a two-year starter at Kansas, but is ineligible to compete in fall ball because she does not have enough credits. She can still practice with the team during this time, and she should have enough credit hours after this semester to be eligible when the season begins in the spring.
For now, she won’t pitch against other teams during ASU’s fall schedule (all of the games are exhibitions). The impact of the delay on Kessler's participation remains to be seen.
“I don’t think it’s a huge deal,” Nicholson said. “I’m sure it’s kind of a bummer for her not being able to be out here and put the uniform on and compete with her teammates this fall. She’ll handle it. She’s got good stuff. Our hitters struggle against her in practice.”
For Macha, getting to play for ASU was a dream come true. She’s a lifetime Sun Devil fan and said she was a bat girl for the team a couple of times when she was 9.
Macha dominated high school softball, with four state championships with Red Mountain. How she fares in a new level of softball is an obvious unknown. She's ranked as the No. 70 overall prospect, according to studentsports.com. On the downside, ASU could have had pitcher Johanna Grauer, the No. 4 overall prospect by the same site, but she decommitted when former head coach Clint Myers left in 2013.
Freshmen can impact the game right away – Escobedo went 37-3 and won a national championship in her first season.
“It’s always an adjustment at this level, and for pitchers, it’s a little more of an adjustment than hitters,” Nicholson said.
Macha’s actually being compared to the other departing pitcher, Popescue, and may be bringing some of that out by wearing her No. 99 jersey. Their pitches are similar, with both featuring the dropball and changeup.
“A lot of people have compared us, our demeanors, everything,” Macha said. “That’s someone amazing to be compared to, just everything she did here, left her mark here. It’s crazy to be in those footsteps now.”
The new pitchers know the legacy the two left behind, particularly Escobedo, who is second in program history in wins and strikeouts.
“There’s no replacing them,” Kessler said. “They were an excellent 1-2 punch that can’t be replicated. We’re a new team. We’re just trying to prove to people that we’re still Arizona State.”
Reach the columnist at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @jjanssen11
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
