Fresno State Bulldogs Softball Hour for March 12, 2025, With Matt Norville & Head Coach Stacy May-Johnson

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
On the Bulldog Sports Network from Learfield. This is the
Bulldog Softball Hour. Pron to you buy bud Late, Easy
to Drink, Easy to Enjoy, Temple Mountain Casino Resorts, Lucky
Days and Epic Nights and by Pepsi official soft drink
of Fresno State Athletics. Live from the Crown Wolf tap

(00:22):
Room in Clovis Gears the voice of Fresno State Softball,
Matt Norvils.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
And good evening, and we welcome you to Crawl and
Wolf at five twenty six Spruce Avenue. Thanks for joining
us at am thirteen forty Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
If you're listening to us on the.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
iHeart or Radio app or the Bulldog app as well,
it is the Softball Hour, the Bulldog Softball Hour, and
I'm Matt norpl with the Presno State head coach Dacy
may Johnson. As the softball team gets ready for their
conference schedule to begin this weekend, Presno State will be
taking on Boise State. They just wrapped up their third
home town tournament and played very well when four and

(01:02):
one in the home tournament, won the last four games,
a double header over Pacific and then a double header
over Saint Mary's a team predicted to win the West
Coast Conference on Sunday. So, coach, tell me about your
group and how you feel going into conference.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Yeah, we feel good. I mean, obviously it was nice
to get those four wins going in. We had a
couple of comeback wins too, which I mean it's always
nice to see because you know you're going to play
from behind at times, and you know, can you generate
the offense and can you hold tight on pitching and defense?
And we did that, So we had a good test
this last weekend. We were excited, you know, after the

(01:38):
Friday night loss to come back and win the next
four so we're excited for this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
You talk about pitching and defense and coming back, which
you did come back pitching an evensy show too. It
was a two to one victory on Sunday over Saint Mary's.
How do you feel like your staff's looked? I know,
I was with you guys in Stanford and I said
that was the really good and bright spot. How do
you feel like your pitching has looked so far this
non conference season?

Speaker 4 (01:58):
Yeah, I mean it's good. You know, Niece is talented.
Everybody knows that. And then I think you know, faith
Jordan was the one we were hoping would come along
this year, and she has. And I think they're really
complimenting pieces. What you know, Surrey is not good at
Faith is and vice versa, you know, and then you've
got Campbell Pooha coming in behind and and she's thrown
some nice innings for us lately, and then the two

(02:18):
Hannah's dunk In and Ortega and you know, I think
overall they you know, they have different roles obviously, but
when you look at them as a staff, they don't
give up a lot of runs, so they're doing something right.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, definitely, Jordan has really come a long way. And
Campbell poo against cal really got you guys back in
that game. I know that was a couple of weeks ago,
and when she retired nine in a row, so she's
been very good out of the pen. How about health,
you guys are finally starting to get a little healthy.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Coach.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
We got to see him and Martinez last weekend for
the first time, and she has he picked up right
where she left off.

Speaker 4 (02:48):
Yeah, no, that was big. And then man, I think
she hit her first home run at Margie right. It
wasn't her first home run.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
No, it wasn't her first home run, but it was
the first of Margie, right, uh huh.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, And I you know, she got better at the
plate in the off season, so we're excited to see
what she can do offensively. Obviously, she's phenomenal defensively, and
you saw that right away. There was a I think
there was a laser hit to the five to six
hole and she backhanded and fired the ball at cross
out and made it look easy. So you know, she's
a difference maker in her lineup. Work sited to have her.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Back, got her back, You got Niza back, and then
I saw Ramirez get some advats as well. So that
as good as you're starting to get healthy going into
a good conference season where you guys are predicted to
finish top two in the Mountain West Conference. How do
you see the conference when you take a look at it.
They got San Diego State who's won it the last
few years, and then you and Boise right there.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, it's hard to tell, you know, because I think
we're all good at different things. You know, I think
San Diego State can really pitch. I think Boise can
really hit. I don't know that, you know, Boise has
the pitching to do it, you know, and so you know,
how can they outscore every opponent?

Speaker 5 (03:50):
Maybe?

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Maybe not. And I think that's the thing is there's
just nobody that's clear in a way the best on
both sides of the ball, and so it's going to
be really tightly contested. I think the scenario where there's
a couple of games that separate first in fifth and
sixth place, I mean, I think that's probably gonna happen. Again.
It's going to be really really tightly contested. I do
think the bottom is better, and I do think that

(04:11):
the bottom teams are going to take more team or
more games from the higher teams in the conference, and
so that'll make it even more interesting.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
And that kind of goes back to what the first
year when they had the conference tournament, that was kind
of how it was last year. The top six really
separated themselves from the bottom three.

Speaker 6 (04:26):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
How nice is it going to be, though, to play
in San Diego for the conference tournament not at elevation
because that does help obviously Fresno State is San Diego
State of San Jose State not going to elevation, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
I think, I mean it's no secret that it's favorable
for us when the scores are lower. When we get
into these really really high scoring games. I mean, certainly
we can compete, but that's not our best scenario. So
when we go to San Diego, when we play here
in Fresno, those are the types of parks where we're
going to be best in. So, yeah, we're excited about that.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Do you get a chance to watch Nevada because they
showed up this weekend, you know, played right before you
chances to kind of see what they've got.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
Yeah, yeah, we took a good look at them. You know,
they've got a couple pieces in their lineup hit the
ball really well. Not the offense that they had a
year ago by any means, But Hayley McLain I to me,
she's the frontrunner for the Mountain West Pitcher of the
Year at this point. You know, a pitcher who had
a really good freshman year at Utah State and then
just kind of fizzled in her sophomore year. I don't know,
if you know, just didn't have the right coaching or

(05:21):
whatever it was. But she's really found her groove back
in Nevada, and I think that they have enough offense
that if she can throw that, well, they're going to
be really tough and they will be in contention.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Let's talk about your group a little bit, and what
if you like so far that you've seen from you
guys so far through the first about a month and
a half.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Well, it starts, I think with the with pitching and
the defense. You know, we've got athletes out there on defense,
they make plays, they steal hits, and I think our
pitching is is good enough and works well enough together.
I don't know that it functions without every piece, you know.
I think you take away one athlete or two athletes
from our bullpen and we're not the same. So it
really does require the whole group to work and function together.

(06:03):
That's how we win, and we'll continue to win that way,
you know. And then the other thing is, I think
this group has shown the ability to score runs. And
you know, you could look on paper and say, well,
they don't have a three p fifty batting average, okay, whatever,
But it's not about that. It's about scoring runs. And
we score runs. You know, we score runs at a
really high level. Honestly, we score runs at a level

(06:24):
that's higher than what we hit the ball, even though
I do think we hit the ball well and the
top of our lineup is very good. But you know,
we are definitely putting up the numbers on the scoreboard
and that's really all that counts.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's funny you mentioned that because the Long Beach State
I ever reminded of that. You guys had the lead,
leading two to nothing and you didn't have a hit.
That's because of how you ran the bases. You took
advantage of a mistake here or there, and you guys
have been very good at that at this season. Talk
to me about the two we're gonna see up here
in about a few minutes. Mursa Malolongo when A listen, raba.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah. Well Marissa local Kingsburg, so so valley talent. I
know everybody loves that. She spent her first four years
at Saint Mary's, was starting second basement there and I
wanted to finish up her career back home. She is
unbelievable defensively, she is our best base runner. She does
things on the basis that nobody else does. You know,

(07:13):
we're excited to get her back. She puts out for
a bit there. Yeah, so she's obviously she's a she's
a Valley favorite, but just she she moves the neil
on our team. We were really lucky to get her
back here in Fresno for her senior year. And then
Alyssa Reba Yo, it's she's our best outfielder. She's really
come along with the bat. She's got good pop. You
wouldn't look at her and think, you know, she hit

(07:35):
the ball hard, but she can, you know, and yet
she runs balls down in the gap. She's got the
best arm on the team. She does some really really
cool stuff and just kind of no nonsense type of athlete.
You know, she's she's not you know, she doesn't get
down on herself. She's she's just really tough. She's really
tough and competes hard and takes accountability and there's a

(07:56):
lot of the things that you look for as a
coach and an athlete.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
She's really cool and even knowing her family for quite
some time now. Yeah, yeah, back to Utah Valley days,
right right, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
So we coached her older sister Lena at Utah Valley,
who was a heck of a ball player there. She
played left field for US hit the ball. She now
competes for the Mexican national team, as does as does Alyssa.
So yeah, the family connection goes back a few years.
And so that was one of the things recruiting her
was we knew that there was going to be a
good fit there in terms of personality, and you know,

(08:25):
they like the way we coach and we like the
way they raise their kids.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
So there you go. There you go.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Talk to me about what you're looking to improve on
going into this conference season.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Yeah, so, I mean, I I hit on it. We
can score runs, you know, and I'll share this with you.
You know, we were fifty points down in batting average
from where we were a year ago, but we're still
scoring the same number of runs, right, So that's good, right,
But the plan is to keep doing what we're doing
and raise the batting average fifty points, you know, and
so get everybody back healthy on the field, get our

(08:57):
best lineup on the field, and you know, continue to
do the things that we do well, but like you know,
up our offensive production and become become a force at
the plate, not just not just manufacturing.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
They talk about you like to use your eyeballs as
a test, but you also will look at some analytics.
Is there maybe a go to analytics that you look
for on the offensive side that kind of tells you
how you feel like you're playing well if.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
We're if we're talking just overall production. I mean, there's
a there's a number you're probably familiar with OPS called
on base plus slugging percentage and uh, we like that
in coaching because it's the it's the statistic that correlates
most closely with run production. Better better gauge than batting average,
so OPS. So you know, what are we going to improve?
I'd like to see our OPS go up from a

(09:42):
from a statistical standpoint on. You know, how do we
how do we gauge our ability to score runs? Well,
you know, one thing we look at is as runner
at third with less than two outs and are we scoring?
What percentage of those runs are we scoring? So those
are some of the things that we look at.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
We're gonna take our first break when we come back.
We've got a couple of student athletes we're going to
chat with. This is the Bulldog Softball Hour. We're at
Colnall five twenty six, Bruce Avenue. It's Bulldog Softball from
Learfield Best Draage.

Speaker 7 (10:07):
The official Truncking Logistics Company of Presno State Athletics is
the premier intermodal drayage company in the Central Valley. We
handle imports and exports between Central Valley's farmers and the
rest of the world through the Port of Oakland. When
only the best will do best, Drayage is your number
one choice, the best service provided.

Speaker 8 (10:25):
By the best team.

Speaker 7 (10:26):
Find out more about all that best Drayage has to
offer at Best Drayage Company dot com. That's best Drayage
Company dot com.

Speaker 9 (10:34):
Gold Bulldogs My f FB is facilitating five star banking.

Speaker 10 (10:39):
Justin Clopton, Business Development Officer at FFB.

Speaker 9 (10:42):
Personalized solutions, one on one relationships that you form with
our team members. We not only offered great financial services,
but we also want to make sure that you have
great customer experience.

Speaker 10 (10:55):
Banking means different things to different people. We'll find out
more at f FB dot bank.

Speaker 8 (10:59):
We want you to feel like you're top party because.

Speaker 10 (11:02):
You are FFP member, FDIC Equalis and lender.

Speaker 11 (11:06):
Kasparians Paint Center has been the valley's local source for
paint and codings for over thirty five years. Family owned
and operated in Fresno, Casparians Paint Center serves property owners
and managers, contractors, farmers, manufacturers, and food processors. Kaspariance carries
a full line of VPG industrial, commercial and residential paint
and specialty codings. They understand your time is valuable and

(11:27):
offer on site consultations and delivery. Valley wide call Kasparians
Paint Center five five nine, two two two three one
three one for all your painting needs.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Here in the heart of California.

Speaker 12 (11:38):
Traditions are as deeply rooted as the abundant fields that
drape our valley. They link us across generations. They make
us who we are. So what does it mean when
traditions unite? When a beacon of hope beats a source
of pride, When you combine a place that's full of
life with people who can save the life, we call
it a victory for our valley, for our kids, for

(12:01):
generations to come. Valley Children's official healthcare partner of the
Fresno State Bulldogs.

Speaker 13 (12:09):
The Human Being is here to kickstart your day with
the perfect cup of joy. Our expert foriss pour passion
into every cup. Join our Human Being family and discover
the friendly faces that greet you by name, whether you're
a regular or a first timer. The Human Bean is
your daily escape. Visit us today at any of our
Central Valley locations or explore our menu online at the

(12:31):
Humanbean dot com, where every cup is a reason to smile.

Speaker 14 (12:37):
Holdog fans, it's the old culture. Pap Hill here to
tell you about our friends at Table mount two thousand
slot machines, Hi Gal, Blackjack and Mini Bacarac on a
smoke free floor and head to sky the rooftop Tepanyaki
restaurant with unbelievable views or eagles landing a one of
a kind to daykhouse I sing along with Headliner Entertainment

(12:59):
before returning to one of the luxurious suitees.

Speaker 15 (13:02):
Have your own.

Speaker 14 (13:02):
Lucky day followed by an epic night at Table Mountain
Casino Resort.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
Here is a fitch from Soreya that's hit up in
the middle. This will be a tough flight fielded by
Mono Alongo steps on the bag and second and the
inning is over.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Monto alonge up the middle.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Backhandidate and then with their left foot stepped on the bag.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Sure no.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Willy, welcome you to Cronwoll five twenty six, Bruce Avenue,
Thanks for listening on AM thirteen.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Forty Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
If you're listening to us on the Bulldog app for
iHeartRadio as well. I'm Matt Norble talking with head coach
as Stacy may Johnson of the Bulldogs softball team. And
we've got a couple of the student athletes, got Risa
Montolongo and Alyssa Ragietto along sign. We've got a junior
and a senior with all their experience and expertise in college. Now,
welcome guys to the Bulldogs Offball Hour.

Speaker 16 (13:50):
Hi, thank you for having us.

Speaker 5 (13:52):
Yes, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
All right, Lissa, let's start with you. Talk to me
about the season so far. How's it gone in your eyes?
Here the starting center fielder, obviously doing stuff at the plate,
such a good defensive player. How you see your team
looking so far?

Speaker 16 (14:04):
I think we're looking really well.

Speaker 17 (14:06):
I think we are coming into conference pretty pretty strong,
and we just got to keep working on it and
get there.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
What do you think from your point of view with
your game? What do you like to in terms of
your development from your freshman year to where you are now?

Speaker 16 (14:18):
Oh, my hating.

Speaker 17 (14:20):
I think I've always been a pretty well defensive player,
but I just really need my bat to come alive,
and it's doing me good so far.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
It is doing you good, all right, Marissa, the first
time the Red Wave actually gets to experience you. We've
seen you on the field at Saint Mary's, but you're
actually not wearing a Bulldog uniform. So what's the experience
been like for you so far?

Speaker 18 (14:40):
I mean, there's there's always a scare when it comes
to transferring, but I've always heard good things about Fresno,
say softball, and when I came in, the expectations were
exactly what I expected them to be. It's been really
exciting to compete and to be home again. I've known
Taran all my life, so it's a nice time. You
hit her here and obviously met their arrest, the girls,

(15:00):
and it's just been a blessing.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
But yeah, it's just been everything.

Speaker 18 (15:03):
I've always dreamed about, and so I'm excited to see
where it takes us into conference.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah, you're from Kingsburg, California, so you're a valley kid.
And it's interesting that you and Taryn. I was talking
to coach to staceymy Johnson about this. You wish to
everybody happy Valentine's Day, and you guys both produced RBIs
that same night.

Speaker 18 (15:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's always exciting. Like I said,
just having her there kind of eased my transfer into here,
and she's given me the utmost confidence when it came
to my play where I stood on the team, and
so just being able to produce that game was always fun,
especially with her by my side.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
What made you go into the decision, Hey, A, I
want to use the COVID year for a fifth year.
And then why'd you want to come to Fresno State?

Speaker 5 (15:44):
I think just being a Presno native.

Speaker 18 (15:47):
I grew up watching Presno Stay softball and I've always
known like how competitive it was, and I did want
to be a part of that. Coming from the WCC
and comparing it to the Mountain West, it is a
lot more competitive, and I'm excited to be a part
of it. But I just liked the idea of playing
at home, getting to see my family every single day,
and getting to be a role model for the girls

(16:08):
that I like coached and we're able to give lessons.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
To had the same question too for you, Alyssa. Obviously,
head coach Stacy me Johnson's known you and your family
for a little bit. Now, what went back to that decision,
going back to your senior high school, going into.

Speaker 17 (16:21):
Your freshman year, it definitely eased my decision. Like knowing
coach Stacy and just like how she worked, and I
just liked her coaching, like the way she coached. I've
always heard good things from my sister and just Forresno
in general, I mean, the community.

Speaker 6 (16:37):
Is like.

Speaker 16 (16:39):
Wild, It's like just like so much love.

Speaker 17 (16:41):
It's like almost like a lot sometimes, but you just
like always want to like produce for the community because
you know they'll produce for you.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
Can you is that something you guys feel as players?
I mean, as a broadcaster and coach knows as a
coach you can feel that softball is just viewed differently
in Fresno than a lot of other places. Can you
feel that when you guys are playing.

Speaker 16 (17:00):
I think I can feel it.

Speaker 17 (17:01):
I just feel like they expect so much from us,
and I feel like when we don't, like we're not
up to par.

Speaker 16 (17:08):
I feel like we just want to be better for
them and for us.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
Yeah, I agree, I agree.

Speaker 18 (17:13):
I think when we lock the momentum sometimes they kind
of rally behind us and kind of push us and
get that fire under us. And I think it's it
just makes us play a lot better and like Melissa said,
just allows us to play for them and play for
something bigger than the game itself.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Coach, you've talked about these two. Obviously, we know they're
great defensive players. I mean, there's no doubt about it.
They both are probably going to be in the running
for defensive Player of the Year in conference. But what
makes them so good defensively?

Speaker 17 (17:39):
You know?

Speaker 4 (17:40):
I mean, obviously they have a lot of tools and
a lot of skills, and maybe talk about Marissus peed.
We talked about Lissa's arm, But I mean, I think
at the end of the day, they're just dogs, you know.
I mean, like there's something about that. There's something about
the desire to make that catch. There's there's something about
the desire to go get that ball, and you don't
see it. You don't see it with everybody. Not everybody

(18:01):
with the tools that they have, you know, brings that
kind of mentality, but they do, you know, and that
I think that's the difference.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Since we're talking about defense, what's it been like, guys
working with Raquel Savoy the defensive coach for you guys,
how's that been for you?

Speaker 5 (18:16):
It's been good.

Speaker 18 (18:16):
She brings us to a different standard every single day
and she continues to raise that bar for us, and
I think that just shows us what we're capable of.
And it's been always upbeat, it's always something new, and
it just like I said, it just pushes us to
like a whole new level and it's gonna be great
to see where that takes us throughout the course of
the rest.

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Of the season.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
What about you, Alyssa, Oh, coach.

Speaker 16 (18:38):
Rock is awesome.

Speaker 17 (18:39):
I think she really brings us like to a new
new level. She elevates our defense. She's always come, she
comes to practice, and she always has a plan and
we always get after it when when we're at practice.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
We've talked about her coach, but I mean it's the
first year that she's been on staff. Have you already
seen what an impact she's made.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah, for sure. No, I think she's a really really
good developer of athletes, you know, And that was that
was visible right away. So you know, I think that
the athleticism that you see on the field, it wasn't
just you know, you know, a coincidence. I mean it
happens every single day at practice, you know. So the athletes,
I think really embody what she brings to them.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
You two playing, obviously it's your junior or your senior year.
What's it.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
What have you noticed from maybe your freshman year to
where you are now experience wise on the softball diamond,
Because obviously you were very good in high school, you
play travel ball. What have you noticed though, now that
you progressed, You're like, man, I'm so much better at
this compared to where when I first started.

Speaker 17 (19:37):
I would say my mental I think that that's what
a lot of girls lack when coming into like college softball.
They don't understand like the mental preparation you need to
have in order to be like a starter or just
like accept your role as a player in general.

Speaker 18 (19:55):
Yeah, I think going off of that, that's been where
I've grown the most. I think college shopfle brings in
new experiences and sometimes you don't realize like the toll
that it takes on you. But at the end of
the day, remembering that you have other people there to
support you and always want the best for you, and
who's always going to push you to the next level.
I think it's been it's been really easy to gain

(20:20):
a lot more mental toughness through that.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
The question I have never really asked a student athlete much,
but you guys get to see a lot of the
same umpires, do you do you build a relationship with
them at all over time or anything like that, because
we always say Fred Barker is one of my personal favorites.
He's been doing the game since honestly, I want to
say the mid nineties. I think it's how long he's
been doing the game. Do you guys get to kind
of talk to him a little bit and kind of
have obviously you at second you probably not as much as.

Speaker 4 (20:44):
In center field.

Speaker 5 (20:44):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
What about you, Marissa.

Speaker 18 (20:50):
Yeah, I think it's always fun building those relationships and
being able to hopefully joke with them and get some
of the calls that go your way. But yeah, it's definitely.
It's definitely interesting, like to see everyone's different perspectives and stuff.
And I always like to ask, like where they're from,
And I mean he gets taut in Fresno, so if
they're used to the heat, because.

Speaker 5 (21:08):
I know sometimes I am, I'm not.

Speaker 18 (21:10):
But yeah, it's been nice of being able to see
the same mpires and just knowing like how they call
and whatnot and give us the extra advantage during the game.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
And that's an important coach too, because they love the game.
The umpires love the game no matter what they show
up and they have a tough job to do. But
it's the relationships. And you get to obviously have a
better relationship than even the players do because you're a
coach and you're talking to them all the time.

Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah, for sure. And I gotta tell you, Bobby works
some pretty good you know, but but yeah, no, we do.
And I and they like coming to Fresno.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
They do.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
You know, I don't A lot of people don't know this.
My brother's actually an official, and so you know, I
kind of have his perspective where, you know, there's places
he just doesn't like going because they just kind of
treat him like dirt. And we're not gonna do that here.
Like I'm gonna tell them when I think they missed
a call, but we're going to treat them right and
and so, and I think that they know that when
they come to Fresno, they're going to be treated with respect.

(22:05):
And doesn't mean we're always going to agree on the
calls that they make, but I think that helps the
relationship tremendously, and I think that helps them want to
come back here and be a part of this. They love,
they love working here.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Kind of to piggyback that first year for instant replay
and Margie right, I mean we've obviously had that in
other tournaments and then obviously last season as well. I mean,
how much do you like that? We talked about it
last year. It's been great. Your record, by the way,
has been pretty good so far. Our challenges.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
I like it when we win, you know, I don't
know if I like it when we lose, but I
sure like it when we win.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
Do you like that? Do you have it? Finally, mar No,
it's it's really good.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
It's really good, you know, and it just takes some
of the guests work out sometimes, Like I mean, they
missed one the other day at first base, and it
was pretty bad. It was pretty obvious. I think everybody
in the park knew it. And I was irritated because
I had to use a challenge on it. But you know,
because you should have gotten it right in the first place.
But on the other hand, there was no recourse. You know,
in the past, there was no recourse, and so that
call just would stand, and if I'm not mistaken, we scored,

(23:00):
so you know it's good and it just helps get
the calls right. And I think the umpires want that too.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
We're gonna take a break when we come back. We're
going to talk a little academics. I have to talk
academics with the student athletes. This is the Bulldog Softball
Hour at Cronwolf five twenty six Spruce Avenue. It's the
Bulldog Softball from Learfield.

Speaker 15 (23:18):
At Crow and Wolf Brewing Company, we don't just brew beer,
we craft experiences. Located in Clovis and distributed across central California,
We're the Valley's premier craft brewery. From award winning IPAs
to Chris Bloggers, Seltzers, Zeiders, and venos. Every sip is
made for the fearless and flavor obsessed. With rotating food
trucks and free weekly events, our family friendly tap room

(23:41):
is the perfect place together great beer, great people join
the pack at Crow and Wolf Brewing Company.

Speaker 19 (23:47):
Today, it's a breaking ball and a big swing and
a miss boy that created a breeze. Hey, you know
what else creates a breeze. Provident payments with a dedicated
local relationship manager lower fee and secure processing. Provident Payments
makes running your business.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
A real breeze.

Speaker 19 (24:05):
Give Provident Payments a call today at one eight hundred
nine eight nine eleven thirty nine. You'll probably talk to
a former ballplayer, maybe even a Diamond Dog. And when
it comes to your business, Provident always makes contact.

Speaker 8 (24:21):
The Fashion Furniture Experience includes all of the latest innovations
in youth furniture, from bug beds to homework desks, storage
to studies. It's the most imaginative use of space you've
ever seen. If you're looking for youth furniture options, check
out the Kid's World collection at Fashion Furniture. There's nothing

(24:41):
like it in all of California. On El Paso, across
from River Park.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
Holdog fans. It's the old culture.

Speaker 14 (24:51):
Pat Hill here to tell you about our friends at
Table Mountain two thousand, slot machines, Hi Gal Blackjack and
Mini baccarac On a smoke free fl head to sky
the rooftop Teppanyaki Restaurant with unbelievable views, or eagles landing
a one of a kind steakhouse sing along with headliner
entertainment before returning to one of the luxurious suites have

(25:14):
your own lucky day followed by an epic night at
table Mountain Casino Resort.

Speaker 19 (25:19):
Looking for a winning destination for local farm to table provisions,
well look no further. The Ricutee Family's Enzo's Table is
the valley's favorite place to go for a state grown almonds,
fresh baked fiscote, premium enzo organic olive oil, balsamic vinegar,
and handcrafted pantry goods, plus an array of uniquely curated
gifts for special occasions at corporate gimmick.

Speaker 8 (25:40):
The Racutee Family invites.

Speaker 19 (25:41):
You to stop by Enzo's Table or visit their online
store at Enzo's Table dot com to enjoy the bounty
of California.

Speaker 20 (25:51):
It's a busy time of the year and if you're
taking kids from school to practice, you probably have a
long to do list when you get home. Let's SuDS
line take care of the laundry. Just schedule a pickup
at subz please dot com and says we'll wash, drive, fold,
and neatly package your clothes and get them back to

(26:11):
you one day later.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
That's it.

Speaker 20 (26:14):
Life is too busy. Let's SuDS handle the dirty laundry.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Two balls, two strikes, one out here.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
Is the pitch.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
That's it high and deep to left center field. Going
back and making the catch on the warning track is Sam's.
That'll be a sacrifice fly. As Geiger scores easily and
the Dogs lead nine to four, Ray Boyeto just missed
it and that gets another run across.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
Well, welcome you back to Curling Wolf.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
At five twenty six, Bruce Avenue, thanks for listening to
us on AM thirteen forty Fox Sports Radio. We are
in Clovis, California. It's the Bulldogs Softball Hour with head
coach Dacy May Johnson. We've got a couple of student athletes,
Mursa mon Alongo and Alyssa rabel Yedo and I'm at Norble.
Thanks for joining us here Tonight's and we've got to talk.
I know sometimes it gets boring to talk about, but
we've got to talk about academics and especially we've got

(27:12):
a senior and a junior, and you're about to get
into the quote unquote real world. And so I talked
to me what school has been like first solicit for
you as a junior, what it's been like the first
couple of years, what's your major and what are you
trying to do?

Speaker 17 (27:23):
Freshman year, to me, academically was easy. Like I came in,
I'm I'm pretty good academically. I just I mean, I
do my work.

Speaker 16 (27:33):
That's that's really it. But it was easy.

Speaker 17 (27:37):
It was really general ed general education. Sophomore year got
a little bit more challenging. I started more into like
core classes. I'm a criminology victimology major, okay, so and
I had to take criminal law and I was like, oh,
this is a lot, like what is going on this year?
I actually have all online classes this semester, which is, uh,

(27:57):
it's pretty easy just to like manage my time because
I just get to do class whenever I want.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
That's really nice actually, especially with how you guys travel.
All right, what about you Merca.

Speaker 18 (28:07):
So my undergrad years at Saint Mary's, I came in
during COVID and so I think that made it a
little bit easier. But as soon as I got it
in person classes, it was a punch in the face
for sure.

Speaker 5 (28:17):
I think I realized.

Speaker 18 (28:18):
That I can't study a day before, two days before
I go to start a week, week and a half before.
So I think, yeah, like I said, it's plenty in
the base, but little lesson and especially trying to balance
it with's softball.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
But now I'm getting my master's in.

Speaker 18 (28:31):
After that science, and yeah, it's been really easy so far.
I think we get their good resources here with our
academic advisor Kevin always helping us and setting up with
tutoring for whatever, for whatever reason we needed. But right
now I only have two classes and they're going pretty smoothly,
so hopefully stays a clear course with that one.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
What are you trying to do when you're all done?
After you get your.

Speaker 18 (28:53):
Masters, I want to go into occupational therapy, which is
similar like kind of like physical therapy that you're working
with permanently disabled patients. I feel like being an athlete
and having people always hope me. I feel like I've
always wanted to give back to my community, and I'm
not behind the desk kind of person, so I just
need to be out there hands on.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Oh that's really good to do, honestly, because that means
a lot. I would say definitely. My brother full disclosure,
has cerebral palsy, so he has to do no physical
therapy all the time because he can't move his arms
and his legs.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
So yeah, what you're doing, that's wonderful.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Talk to me about school and your favorite class that
you've taken so far, and maybe the toughest class you've
taken so far.

Speaker 16 (29:34):
Toughest class was definitely criminal law.

Speaker 17 (29:37):
I got a be in it, but honestly that's good
for me, Like I was, like I was, I was okay.

Speaker 5 (29:42):
With the bee.

Speaker 17 (29:43):
My favorite class was probably just a criminology class, and
I really liked my professor.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
He just like it was actually.

Speaker 17 (29:53):
The first class I had to take tests in person,
so I feel like I really learned like a lot
from my class. But that's because like I really needed
to like focus on the tests and like everything like that.
He just like he explained like the material really well
and he made it like he applied it to real
life situations, which I really liked because I was like, oh, wow,

(30:15):
I can really use this in real life and not
just it's not just something I'm learning in the classroom
never going to use again.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
What about you?

Speaker 18 (30:21):
I think my favorite class had been extraise physiology. I
think just being able to learn, like being an athlete,
being able to learn like what actually goes on and
like how my body utilizes different oxygen levels and stuff.
But yeah, as for my hardest class, I think that
was sport law just this last semester. I think, like

(30:42):
Lisz said, there's so many components, and my professor explained, well,
he's made it really interesting. But for me, it's just
a lot of components, a lot of elements and it
took a while to click.

Speaker 5 (30:52):
But it was fun.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
When you guys are going through a tough class, is
that where tutor comes in or what how do you
go about it when you're like, man, this class is
just tough.

Speaker 17 (31:01):
Yeah, we usually talked to Kevin and then he gives
us Kevin is the best. It's just like he is
one of the best academic advisors ever. He always like
makes it easy for us. He like makes it clear
everything's like planned out, we understand what course we're going,
like with majors and stuff.

Speaker 16 (31:18):
But yeah, I mean you.

Speaker 17 (31:19):
Could just you can either talk to your professor and
ask like what you can do more, or you can
get a tutor and then.

Speaker 18 (31:27):
Yeah, yeah, I think for me, always talking to my
professor is always my first best bet to go because
sometimes the way they expand in class, obviously may they
may talk a little bit differently compared to one on
one and like list said, I mean, Kevin is always
there to give you a tutor. If one tutor is
not working out for you, give you another one. And
it's just those resources. So yeah, praise to Kevin.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
Wait here, Kevin a lot don't coach every single time.
What it makes him such a good academic advisor for
you as a head coach.

Speaker 4 (31:54):
Yeah, I mean I think he's just he's really invested
and he does you know. I mean, he does his
job well. He knows about everybody and every class and
how they're doing, and when there's an issue, he addresses it.
I mean he's just his follow ups really really good.
He doesn't I know, when when he says, hey, I
need you to go do this, he doesn't, you know,
wait around to think cross his fingers that they did it.

(32:16):
He'll call them or text them and say hey did
you do that and then oh no I didn't get
it done. Okay, go get it done. I mean he's
just he's really on them and he's a follow up.
But he's also like really caring too, you know, and
they know he's invested in them in their academics and
so but I tell you, every single time, Kevin is
the best.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
Right, that's all. That's all we heard.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
That's all we heard every week because I asked this
question to everyone because we have to talk academics, and
they all bring up Kevin and how good he is.
There hasn't been one that's like, I don't know about
this Kevin guy, not at all. So how do you
guys balance academics and athletics. It takes up a lot
of time, So how do you guys go about it?
You like a procrastinator. I know obviously you said you
used to procrastinate. How do you balance it?

Speaker 17 (32:56):
Honestly, I just try to do it every time I
get the chance and time I have time. So it's
usually like in the mornings after weaits, instead of watching
a TV show or something, I watch my lecture in class.

Speaker 16 (33:07):
I do that work.

Speaker 17 (33:08):
I get it done early so that I'm not stressing
about it on Sunday night when we get home at
six o'clock and I have five hours because it's due
at eleven fifty nine.

Speaker 5 (33:18):
I think same for me.

Speaker 18 (33:19):
Just whenever you're whenever I get an assignment, just trying
to get it done, chip away at it, and I'll
wait till the last minute. Something that's worked for me
is just always making a to do list and checking
those things off as soon as I go. But as
a student athlete, I think you always have to remember that,
like you're a student first, and college softball is good, yeah,

(33:39):
but it's paving your way for your education because at
some point softball's gonna end and you're gonna have to
fall back on your education. So just ensuring like that's
always a priority.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
And yeah, are.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
You guys one of those that, hey, I'm going to
do homework on the road kind of I'll do it
in a hotel. Are you one of those? I don't
really want to do anything when I'm on the road.
I'll just do it at home.

Speaker 16 (33:57):
I'm when I do not like doing homework on the road.
I like rather watch a TV show.

Speaker 17 (34:02):
I'd rather do all my homework like the night before
we get on the road. I just I can't do
it on the bus, Like it's just there's too many
things going on.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
I would agree with you. I never did homework on
the road either.

Speaker 18 (34:12):
When I played I Mean Last on the way back
from Marion Utter, we were singing and dancing, so I
would safe to say that I would not probably get
my homework done on the road, but yeah, just getting
it done before and then just enjoying the weekend. Obviously
after a game, you don't want to ever be thinking
about homework, So making that a player way to get
it done before.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
Coach, That is kind of one thing that is nice
about softball and baseball because you guys have a lot
of weekend series that they can get stuff done, whereas
the other sports we talked to about, especially like a basketball,
they have a midweek game that's a big one, and
then they have their game on Saturday, and so it's
really tough. How did you go about it back in
the day when you played, coach.

Speaker 4 (34:49):
I don't know, I blacked out, No, you know, I was.
I was a good student, but honestly, I didn't have
like these great habits and so I was running up
against the wire. And that was kind of how I
operated as an undergraduate. And then I got to graduate
school and I decided to be a grown up and
that went much better. I always pulled the grades off,

(35:09):
But just why did I do that to myself? And now,
like I mean, I hear them saying, you know, I
get up in the morning and I do it right
after weights I'm like, Okay, you figured it out a
few years earlier than what I did.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
Let's transition a bit. Let's talk about your love of
the game of softball. When did you realize, Hey, this
is something I want to do. How did it start
and when did you get the first ball in bat
in your hand.

Speaker 17 (35:33):
I have three older sisters that all played softball, so
it was kind of like I just inherited it, like
we were always since I was little, We were always
at the ballpark, and it was just kind of like
something I just was like, oh, well, I'm going to
do it too. So I did, and I found more
love and more sisters softball sisters that I've just like

(35:54):
created so many memories with, and softball has just always
been a part of my life and that's how I developed.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
The love for it.

Speaker 18 (36:02):
Yeah, going off of that, I mean, everyone picks up
a bat and a ball when they're a little kid,
and I started off in tebow and then realized I
had a love for the game. I didn't have any
older sisters, but I did have an older brother who played,
and once I got older, he started devoting time to it.
My dad started devoting time to it, and by the
time I was ten, I was like, Wow, I'm pretty

(36:23):
good at this. I'm pretty fast. Not the biggest, but
I can work with what I got. So just throughout
my career, I just gained more love for it, and
I love the challenge. I think that's the biggest part
that tends to turn people away. But I loved it
and I always wanted more of it, And by the time.

Speaker 5 (36:39):
I got to college, I was like, yeah, I made
the right decision.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
It's definitely a challenging sport, no doubt about it. I
got to ask you maybe the most difficult question ever,
how do you guys come up with your handshakes during
the starting line? Because man, me and Greg will be
up there and sometimes we don't have to talk and
we can just watch. You guys have different ones with
each individual player.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
How does that e do you go about it?

Speaker 16 (37:00):
Have a lot of hands Still? For me, I'm like, wait,
who's next? What hanshing? Do I have a Like? I
just like it's crazy, like come up with it?

Speaker 3 (37:11):
When? When?

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Like when like off season, Like when do you guys say, Hey, no,
this is what we're gonna do.

Speaker 17 (37:15):
Honestly, literally, like five hours before our first game, we
were like doing.

Speaker 5 (37:20):
We're like, oh, what should we do? What should we do?

Speaker 16 (37:22):
It's like we were it was a mess.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Do you have a do you have a certain person?
You get in front of me, you're like, that's my
favorite one to do? Or you just kind of going down.

Speaker 16 (37:31):
My favorite one is with Marissa.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
It was pretty funny. I was pretty funny.

Speaker 18 (37:35):
But being like I said, I'm small, being the small
me and Lauren we have one where she throws me
up and I mean we got a picture taken of
us and just the smiles on our faces.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
It was just it's that was probably pretty fun too, Coach.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
That's what's interesting about not to not to date it
back and how much it's changed. The handshake line is
now just I mean for the starting lineup, there's a
lot that goes into it.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
There's a lot that's happening. I haven't quite caught up
with all of it, but I know that when I
watch it, I'm like, oh, that's funny.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
Yeah, it's interesting how you guys go through everyone and
then okay, when you make a play in the outfield
and you're gonna put up one out, two out, how
do you go about what you're gonna do Because raybo Yoda.
They caught you one time on camera. Did you see it?

Speaker 3 (38:16):
Yeah, they caught her on camera and Greg were.

Speaker 16 (38:19):
Just like, Okay, you know what's funny.

Speaker 17 (38:21):
Every time we do our like celebration, after we get
it out, the camera.

Speaker 16 (38:26):
Cuts so fat and I think it's so funny. I
actually was the one that came up with the camera.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
Okay, okay, but I mean, I.

Speaker 17 (38:34):
Don't know, we just like we just play around with this.
It was just like something that keeps us like having
fun and laughing.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
That's the point of it.

Speaker 5 (38:42):
Yeah, I going off of that.

Speaker 18 (38:43):
I mean, every time I turn around and I see
them do it, it's it's like a little smile on
my face. But yeah, like she said, it eases the
game a little bit. It just makes it fun, makes
us not super tent. So I think it's just exciting
and fun that we see.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
So talk to me about a long ago about your
relationship obviously with Martine as now who's in and then
you had to work with Sipe, who is the freshman
for you obviously two kind of different players want a
youngster one experience. What's it been like for you in
the middle endfield?

Speaker 5 (39:10):
Well, starting off by say Mary's.

Speaker 18 (39:12):
I kind of met Emma like as competitors, and I
was like, she's a very good second basement. I mean,
being older than her, I still saw attributes in her
that I wanted to learn. So coming over here and
working with her from a now that she's at short,
it's been like a really smooth transition. I mean it's
like I've been playing with her forever. I feel like

(39:33):
I can throw the ball and I don't even have
to worry about her not being able to catch it.

Speaker 5 (39:37):
So I'm really grateful for that.

Speaker 18 (39:39):
As for Key, I mean, he came from a very
competitive high school, and she's a very She's a dog,
that's for sure, and obviously she has a lot to
learn and she is always asking questions. But she stepped
up when Emma went dow. She stepped up in that moment,
and although she had a little bit of lulls, she
always came back stronger, and like I said, she's always
willing to learn and I cannot wait to see how

(40:00):
she grows over the next.

Speaker 5 (40:00):
Couple of years.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
What about you and your relationship with the outfield, because
you got to kind of be bossy out there at
the center. So what's it like with you obviously your
relationship with right field, left field.

Speaker 16 (40:10):
I love that Oudies. I mean, we're all returners.

Speaker 17 (40:13):
We all know each other really well, so it's not
like I have to be bossy.

Speaker 16 (40:17):
It's like they kind of already know. I just got
to remind me.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's ball. Yeah, coach talk about that.
You do have a lot of returners in the outfield.
You know, you look at your lineup and they've been
together for a couple of years.

Speaker 4 (40:30):
Yeah, there's a ton of talent out there and speed, athleticism, arms,
playmaking ability. I mean, Nita got to a ball I
think last weekend that there was a ball in the
right center gap. I couldn't believe she got there, actually
popped out of her glove, but the run to that
ball was just crazy. And I think when you look

(40:51):
across and it's like WHOA A lot of them can
do that and a lot of them can throw. There's
some real talent out there. Defensively, you know, you look
when you try to assemble a roster, you look at
it and you think, okay, we want to be kind
of good up the middle. You look at catcher, second, short,
center field and you're like, okay, we feel.

Speaker 3 (41:08):
Good about that.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
You know, definitely, definitely this is the bulldog Softball Hour.
We'll take another break. We are at Krolmoll five twenty
six Thruce Avenue. It's bulldog Softball from Learfield.

Speaker 19 (41:18):
California Business Machines is a whizics technology company and the
valley's home of three cent color copies color for the
price of black and white from CBM, the proud provider
of Keyosarah printers and copiers to Fresno State Athletics. Business
owners looking to shave overhead should check it out. If
you're paying more, you're wasting money. Ask about keyo Sarah

(41:39):
and three cent color copies from California Business Machines in
Fresno and Vicelia, a whizics technology company online at cbmsolution
dot com.

Speaker 6 (41:49):
Miss elburger is served. Thank you if I may sug
just a pairing. This is our finest Pepsi zero sugar.
The sweetness of pepsi perfectly balanced, is the savory no
so of your burger, while the citrus and carbonation elevates
the taste for a truly stunning flavor profile. Bunipity.

Speaker 8 (42:10):
Now, that is one perfect combination.

Speaker 10 (42:12):
If This is how the other half lives. I could
get used to this. Burgers deserve PEPSI.

Speaker 21 (42:21):
When the game goes into overtime, bud the game goes
into overtime.

Speaker 10 (42:37):
The choice to enjoy is easy.

Speaker 8 (42:40):
Bud Light, easy to.

Speaker 21 (42:42):
Drink, easy to enjoy, enjoy responsibly in Heiser Busch bud
Light Beer, Saint Louis, Missouri.

Speaker 15 (42:49):
At Crow and Wolf's Brewing Company, we don't just brew beer.
We craft experiences located in Clovis and distribute it across
Central California. We're the valley's premier craft brewer. From award
winning IPAs to Chris Bloggers, Seltzers, Zeiders, and Venos, every
sip is made for the fearless and flavor obsessed. With
rotating food trucks and free weekly events, our family friendly

(43:11):
tap room is the perfect place together great fear great
people join the pack at Crow and Wolf Brewing Company.

Speaker 20 (43:18):
Today at Clothes Family Dentistry, a great dental experience is
as fundamental to our team as a good pass on
the court.

Speaker 8 (43:26):
From the moment you walk in, we strive to make
you feel comfortable and confident. Decades of experience, convenient.

Speaker 22 (43:32):
Extended hours and at paints technology help you escape dental
paint and get back to living a happy, healthy life.
The official dentist of Presdo State Athletics. Give us a
call at five five to nine dentists and see how
we love to make the valley smile one patient.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
At a time.

Speaker 11 (43:49):
Kasparian's Paint Center has been the valley's local source for
paint and codeings for over thirty five years. Family owned
and operated in Fresno, Kasparius Paint Center serves property owners
and managers, contractors, farmers, manufacturers and food processors. Casparience carries
a full line a VPG industrial, commercial and residential paint
and specialty codeings. They understand your time is valuable and

(44:11):
offer on site consultations and delivery Valley wide. Call Casparience
Paint Center five five nine two two two three one
three one for all your painting needs.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Two balls, two strikes the fitch that's grounded and that
is a base hit. No Monolongo to first, got it?
Want to play by Marissa Monolongo going hard to her left,
dove for it in the right field grass and then
fired it over to first and they got coked by
a step heck of a defensive play by Monolongo.

Speaker 16 (44:45):
One I do that.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Damn, Mrsa Montolongo. That was one I actually thought was
a basic. Greg next to me thought of his base hit,
but it was not a base hit because of the
defense of this young lady sitting up here. We've got
Mursa Monlolongo, this senior from Kingsburg, the starting second basement
Alyssa rabeledto alongside the junior, the starting center fielder. Head
coach Stacy May Johnson. I'm Matt Norvil. We're a cron
Wolf five twenty six, Spruce Avenue. Thanks for listening on

(45:08):
AM thirteen forty Fox Sports Radio, the iHeart App and
the Bulldog App as well as this is the Bulldog
Softball Hour. All Right, guys, you guys obviously play a
lot of softball, do a lot of.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
Studies, but you gotta have some fun too, obviously.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
Get some free time. What are you looking to do?
Maybe in Fresno, maybe not in Fresnoe. What do you
do for fun when you're just trying to relax and
get away from school and softball?

Speaker 18 (45:31):
I mean, for me, we found a lot of good
hiking spots to go to up like near Millerton and stuff.
So still get still being outdoors. But the other thing
too is I love to eat and it's a fan favorite,
but doghouse is always my gay to Yep, they're try
tip sandwich.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
I gotta love it. But yeah, those are my two.

Speaker 17 (45:49):
What about your Yeah, I try to find new spots
to go to eat. Me and my roommates, which is
kind of the and Olivia too, other softball players team.
We just found out, like this place is called Blue
Moon Yoga and it does like hot yoga, hot pilates,
and so we've been trying that out and it's been

(46:10):
really fun.

Speaker 3 (46:11):
Well that's good.

Speaker 16 (46:12):
Yeah, I mean gonna buy new yoga clothes.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
There you have the yoga matso okay, all right, that's good.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
You gotta love that coach.

Speaker 4 (46:20):
Yeah, absolutely, so we do be spending our time.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Yeah, what do you what do you do to get
like mentally? You know, we talked about it kind of earlier.
We always say mental health is big, especially for an athlete,
because you got a lot of pressure on you. Maybe
it's a outside pressure from media, maybe it's from the coach,
maybe it's from your family, maybe it's from yourself. And
then you've got school academic pressure. So what do you
do just to clear your head and just say, let's

(46:43):
just take a breath.

Speaker 18 (46:45):
I think, for me, something that I have been leaning
on a lot more recently in our kids. Shout out
Emma Martinez for this, but my faith, I think just
realizing that there's you're always playing for an audience of one,
and it's never myself.

Speaker 5 (46:58):
It's always gone.

Speaker 18 (46:59):
And so for me, that's just something I've been leaning
about and just realizing that softball is bigger than itself.
It's always there's always something you're playing bigger for. And
I think that's just something that's been able to ease
a little bit of my those my mental luws that
I go to.

Speaker 17 (47:14):
But yeah, yeah, I gotta agree with mrs on this one.

Speaker 16 (47:18):
It's the man above.

Speaker 17 (47:20):
Gotta give all glory to him, and just as a
reminder to ourselves that this life is not like all
what it seems that the life with him is is
what eternal life is, what we're really reaching for.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Coach, what do you do with your team in terms
of mental health? You know, because that is obviously important.
We've talked about this several times, but I always feel
like it's a good refresher.

Speaker 4 (47:44):
Yeah, I mean well, first thing is just, you know,
create an environment where people feel valued. You know, the
sport's tough, and not everybody can play and not everybody's
gonna be equally successful. That part's really hard. But we
can create an environment where everybody feels valued and cared
for and have been import and part of the team.
I mean, that's that's huge. And then obviously the relationships
with each other, those are so important, right the friendships

(48:07):
that are made here that they're going to go long
beyond this. And and I mean, I think it's no
secret that one of the things that we're missing and
one of the issues that we have underlying with all
this mental health stuff is just isolation. It's a lack
of relationship. It's a lack of human face to face
interaction and connection. And so creating that atmosphere for them
to have that at the field and beyond the field

(48:29):
is obviously a huge deal.

Speaker 3 (48:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
Definitely well said too. By the way, well said, guys
have a favorite teammate on there, with the exception of
who you're sitting next to that you love to hang with,
that's like your girl, You have a favorite person. Maybe
maybe there's a couple people your roommates. Obviously you got
to mention Kennedy and Olivia can not mention it. Yeah,
but besides that, you have someone that is like your
go to.

Speaker 17 (48:53):
No kend of Olivia, like a little our little squad.

Speaker 16 (48:59):
Yeah, you do everything together.

Speaker 18 (49:01):
I mean obviously Isa can and live. I mean they've
just been open arms with me. But I would have
to say, Emma and Lonnie, I can always joke with
them if if there's music playing, can best believe you
pan the camera to us and we're getting down. We
love to dance, and they just keep the game fun
for me, to keep me relaxing.

Speaker 5 (49:21):
But yeah, them too for sure.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
Talk to me about the coaching staff.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
We brought up his name, but the first base coach,
Bobby Altro, what is what does coach Bobby mean you?

Speaker 3 (49:29):
Because he is a wild man. Let me tell.

Speaker 16 (49:31):
You, Bobby is our guy.

Speaker 17 (49:33):
He's always up be always keeping us positive, always encouraging us,
like telling us we're like those girls we are just like.

Speaker 16 (49:43):
He just keeps everything fun. Coach Bobby.

Speaker 18 (49:45):
I think Coach Bobby's our only guy coach, So we
have to lay it on him society. We never let him,
never let him let anything down. But I mean, he's
he keeps it fun, he keeps us competitive, and but
like it'sa said, he's our guy and we love joking
around with him.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
We talk about Bobby a lot. I mean broadcast, you
really don't get a chance to talk about him because
we're talking about them, We're talking about you, we're talking
about she'll be coming out, but we're not really talking
about the first base coach. But positivity is what we've
heard a lot. Will they talk about him.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
Well, he is. He's just a genuinely positive guy for sure.
You know, he's just I think the thing that really
stands out to me is that he really just builds
people up, you know, Like I know that even like
in the office with us, you know, he'll he'll say
things like, hey, you know, another six months with you
in the cages and she'll be there, you know, and
it's like okay, and he means it, you know, like

(50:33):
he believes it. And that's just kind of the way
he operates. But he's a great guy, you know. But
he'll get on him when he needs so. He lit
him up a little bit today and I said, oh,
Bobby yelled at you guys better get going. But no,
he'll do whatever the team needs.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Well, guys, that's gonna wrap up our time with you two.
I still got a chat with head coach Sacamy Johnson.
Thanks for joining us in the Bulldog Softball Hour.

Speaker 16 (50:54):
Thank you. Shout out my mom. It's her birthday today,
so Mama.

Speaker 3 (50:59):
Okay, there you go.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
That's unless the raybe I don't rissamon ALONGO stay with
us our final break and we'll come back with head
coach Stacy M.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
Johnson. It's the Bulldog Softball Hour from Learfield.

Speaker 20 (51:10):
It's a busy time of the year and if you're
taking kids from school to practice, you probably have a
long to do list when you get home. Let Sud's
Laundromat take care of the laundry. Just schedule a pickup
at sudz please dot com and says we'll wash, drive, fold,
and neatly package your clothes and get them back to

(51:30):
you one day later.

Speaker 3 (51:31):
That's it. Life is too busy.

Speaker 20 (51:34):
Let SuDS handle the dirty laundry.

Speaker 13 (51:40):
The Human Being is here to kickstart your day with
the perfect cup of joy. Our expert for reesis pour
passion into every cup. Join our Human Being family and
discover the friendly faces that greet you by name, whether
you're a regular or a first timer. The Human Being
is your daily escape. Visit us today at any of
our Central Valley locations or explore our menu online at

(52:02):
the Humanbeing dot com, where every cup is a reason
to smile.

Speaker 20 (52:08):
At close, family and dustry. A great dental experience is
as fundamental to our team as a good pass on
the court. From the moment you walk in, we strive
to make you feel comfortable and confident. Decades of experience, convenient.

Speaker 22 (52:21):
Extended hours, and it paints technology help you escape dental
paint and get back to living a happy, healthy life.
The official dentist of Presdo State Athletics.

Speaker 20 (52:31):
Give us a call at five five to nine Dentists
and see how we love to make a value smile,
one patient at a time.

Speaker 19 (52:39):
It's a breaking ball and a big swinging a miss boy.
That created a breeze. Hey, you know what else creates
a breeze. Provident Payments With a dedicated local relationship manager,
lower fees and secure processing, Provident Payments makes running your.

Speaker 8 (52:53):
Business a real breeze.

Speaker 19 (52:56):
Give Provident Payments a call today at one eight hundred
and nine eight nine eleven thirty nine. You'll probably talk
to a former ballplayer, maybe even a diamond dog, and
when it comes to your business, provident always makes contact.
California Business Machines is a whizics technology company and the
valley's home of three cent color copies color for the

(53:16):
price of black and white from CBM, the proud provider
of Keyosarah printers and copiers to Fresno State Athletics. Business
owners looking to shave overhead should check it out. If
you're paying more, you're wasting money. Ask about Keyosara and
three cent color copies from California Business Machines in Fresno
and Vicelia, a whizics technology company online at cbmsolution dot com.

Speaker 23 (53:39):
I think of FFB as finding focused business professionals.

Speaker 10 (53:43):
Doug Marmalo, credit administrator at FFB.

Speaker 23 (53:46):
No matter how big or small your business is, you're
going to have specific goals in mind. At FFB, our
job as your financial partner is to support you in
achieving these goals.

Speaker 10 (53:56):
Banking means different things to different people. Find out more
FFB Dog Bank.

Speaker 23 (54:01):
Your success is not just a reward for you, it's
a reward for rap out.

Speaker 10 (54:05):
B two FFB Remember FDIC equal housing lender.

Speaker 3 (54:11):
Cortega.

Speaker 2 (54:12):
This is more than likely as their final batter, that's
the first pitch swinging to center Raybo yetto. What a
catch Rabo yetto when the gap and left center jumped
up and caught it.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
Otherwise that was heading.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
To the wall in the inning is over, Helly, you
welcome you back to growing Well five twenty six. Bruce Avenue,
thanks for listening on AM thirteen forty Fox Sports Radio
the Bulldog Gap in iHeartRadio as well as we wrap
up the Bulldogs Softball Hour. I'm Matt Norvil with Presno
State softball head coach Dacy May Johnson, who's in her

(54:45):
fourth season with the Bulldogs. They Star Conference play this
weekend Friday, Saturday Sunday against Boise State. Bulldogs preseason pick
to finish top two in the Mountain West Conference along
with Boise States. So we're expecting a good series this
week and of course weather permitting on Friday, it's a
six o'clock start. A coach or early thoughts going into

(55:05):
this weekend against Boise State.

Speaker 4 (55:07):
Team, Yeah, I think they have they're They're very different
on two different sides of the ball. I think they're
really good offensively. I don't think they're great on the mound.
They do a good job of keeping their pitchers moving though.
They don't leave anybody out there too long, so they
manage it. But you know, we're we're anticipating probably a
little bit higher scoring games than what we normally have
out at Margie. But you know, I like where a

(55:29):
team's at, so so we're excited about going into this weekend.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
It's interesting you mentioned that it's kind of a new
aage softball now. It's funny. I was talking to Tony
Diadado about it and he's like, hey, there's it seems
like I look around the country. You don't see that
picture and it's a one nothing game anymore. And they
go the distance and they're throwing complete games every other day.
And I said, oh, that's not what it is anymore.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
No, it's not. The offenses are way too sophisticated. You know,
they know how to hit the pitcher before the game's
even started, and there's no more secrets, you know, there's
no more maybe opening weekend freshmen, there might be a secret.
After that, there's no secrets. So they're just really sophisticated
in their approach to hitting and the sport has gotten

(56:12):
really big, strong, athletic fast, and so now it's not like,
you know, they run into one and it flies two
hundred and seventy feet, it's a home run. And you know,
you can't be giving those those athletes multiple looks over
and over at the same pitch or they'll just they'll
just crush them.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
That's f interesting. I tell the story all the time.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
I saw the Florida Florida State game last year and
it looked like it was a home run derby and
it didn't matter if they were bringing in all Americans,
it didn't matter who was pitching, because the ball was
going out. Yeah you got So you got Boise State
this week, then your first road trip, which we will
obviously be with against UNLV next week. So you've got
a really tough start to get going in the Mountain
West Conference with a couple of teams that rated pretty

(56:52):
highly in the conference.

Speaker 4 (56:53):
I mean, the conference is just tough. You know, obviously
Boise with what they do with the bat is huge,
but then UNLV on the road. You know, I don't
know that there's a tougher place to play, but that's
every week in the Mountain West. It's you know, We're
used to it. That's what it is.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
How do you like playing in the Mountain West? You know,
with obviously I always say there's so many different styles. Yeah,
you got your pitching and duels, and you've got your
you got to basically score ten to eleven runs, and
then you got short ballparks, you've got pitchers ballparks.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
What do you like about the styles in the Mountain West?

Speaker 4 (57:24):
Yeah, I mean I love it. I mean, number one,
it's probably the steepest home field advantage conference I've ever
been a part of. And I would you do a
lot of sports. Is that not the case of multiple sports?

Speaker 2 (57:35):
I would agree in softball and baseball that is definitely yeah,
and then yes and every other sport they've got different
styles for sure.

Speaker 4 (57:42):
But I'm thinking about you know, basketball playing up at
Air Force at eight thousand feet, I mean.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
Like New Mexico, the same thing.

Speaker 4 (57:48):
I know, So, you know, I really like it. It's
it's certainly a challenge of you know, it's not always
clear what your roster should be built to do. You know,
are you are you building your roster to hit home?
Are you building roster? Can you get pictures that put
the ball in the air or is that a bad idea?
You know, it's not always clear, but I mean, I
think that's the challenge of it. That's what makes it fun.

(58:09):
And you know, certainly for us, we've learned a lot
along the way and hopefully we're getting better and honing
in on you know what that roster is going to
be to win that championship. And so no, it's a
lot of fun to compete in this conference.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
And in the short about thirty seconds we've got left, Coach,
talk to me about the fans, the Red Wave faithful.
They really start to show out when a conference gets started.

Speaker 4 (58:30):
Yeah, it's unbelievable. You know, everybody comes to town, they
all say it. They're like, there's nothing like playing in Fresno.
They'll tell you it's hard to win here. It is
hard to win here. You know, we are tough at home.
Our fans are unbelievable. You know, the support of just
the butts of the seats, and they're into the game,
they know the game, they understand it. They really truly

(58:52):
are the competitive advantage.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
And that's well said. So far, you've only lost to
two teams at home, col and Saint Mary's, and that's it.
You've want to everything else and you've got a home
stand this weekend against Poise State Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Coach,
thanks for the time at best of luck, Hey, thanks
for having me. That's gonna wrap up the Bulldog Softball Hour.
Thanks for listening on AM thirteen forty Fox Sports Radio.
Here at Karlwolf five twenty six Bruce Avenue, We'll be

(59:15):
back with head coach Daisy May Johnson and crew two
weeks from tonight on March twenty sixth I'm Matt Norble
saying so long from Karlwolf. You've been listening to Bulldogs
Softball from Airfield.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
You've been listening to the Bulldog Softball Hour, brought to
you by bud Light, Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy,
Table Mountain Casino Resorts, Lucky Days and Epic Nights, and
by Pepsi, official soft drink of Fresno State Athletics. Both
preceding has been a lear Field presentation of the Bulldog

(59:51):
Sports Network.