‘Good chaos’
The Royals softball team says culture provides it with a competitive en route to a MIAC Championship and to advancing to the super regionals in Oregon with a 26-game win streak. Here’s what culture and winning sounds like.
By Aaron Heckmann and Sebastian Studier | Reporters
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — As the Bethel University softball team entered the MIAC Playoffs armed with a 21-game win streak, senior second baseman Izzy Wilhelm sat in the opposing dugout inside Ona Orth Athletic Complex predicting the weekend to be “absolute chaos.”
Sophomore shortstop Autumn Earney corrected her.
“Good chaos.”
That’s what some may describe the Royals softball team’s culture and energy in the other dugout. The Royals headed into the MIAC Playoffs with a 29–1 record since the team suffered back-to-back losses Feb. 25 inside the Maverick All-Sports Dome in Mankato when snow had still been covering the field back at home.
“We have the most to lose in this,” Wilhelm said of the MIAC playoffs, “and everyone’s been gunning for us the whole season — but here we are still.”
The Royals took a pair of 1–0 wins over Gustavus Adolphus College and then the College of Saint Benedict in the MIAC Championship on their home field onMay 13, for the program’s second straight MIAC Title, which extended their win streak to 23 games.
The Royals then defeated the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 2–0 to begin regionals in Pella, Iowa. Bethel kept its winning streak intact with a 4–3 win over Central College in nine innings and later defeated Central again in the regional championship 1–0 to earn a bid to the super regionals held in McMinnville, Oregon, May 26–27.
The Royals will bring a 26-game win streak to the field when the team faces Linfield University Friday and Saturday.
“I think that winning can sometimes be a learned trait,” said Penny Foore, who secured her 200th win at regionals in her ninth year as Bethel’s coach.
Bethel (36–3), which finished undefeated in the MIAC and ranked №11 nationally, only lost at neutral sites this season, with the Mankato losses and spring break loss in Florida. They went undefeated at home and on the road. And will have to keep that road streak alive at №4 Linfield to advance beyond the final
Foore says growth is established in the “weeds and in the storms.” The Royals also approach their season with a “one game at a time” mentality.
“You don’t want to get ahead of yourself and start playing for all these championships,” Earney said, “until you cross the game that’s in front of you.”
Foore said they are building off of their success from a year ago, where the Royals lost at the super regional stage. She said the team has played a complete game featuring strong pitching, defense and scoring when they need it during this win streak.
At practice and even during games, fans can hear McDonald’s menu items and chants. Or as Bethel assistant coach Roman Foore points out, he will hear Wilhelm’s energy and see Earney “dancing or staring into space” because the Royals’ culture encourages authenticity. Three words come to Penny Foore’s mind about this team: “Goofy, crazy and weird.”
When she recently asked the team’s nine freshmen in one-on-one conversations what surprised them about softball, the answers were related to the culture.
“The thing that they said about softball was that we can still have a good time, that we don’t have to be a military, that we don’t have to be regimented in uniform,” Penny said, “that we can be free and have fun and still be really good.
“So being able to marry those two things — it’s our idea of a dream.”
She says the culture that has evolved over her and her husband Roman’s tenure leading the Royals, something that took time to establish. Roman said the foundation had to be laid and each group has grabbed things from the previous leadership group. Foore sees how the team’s leadership prevents freshmen from feeling like outsiders. Earney has experienced it herself.
“Whatever anyone’s personality is, we find a way to fit them in,” Earney said, adding that the team’s welcoming and laid back presence allows players to “let out a side of each other that we’ve never seen before.”
Wilhelm is in her fourth year with the program, and she said the team’s energy is unique to her junior year and this season. She also said the culture has allowed her to feel like a kid again while this environment allows her to play at her best.
“To be able to have that mentality and just that kind of spirit,” Wilhelm said, “it just is really comforting and honestly brings a lot of joy to my heart.”
At the end of the day, the Royals know how to get down to business, and that balance of knowing when to be relaxed and when to be serious is what makes it all work and has helped them have success on the field.
“Part of what we’ve talked about this year is knowing when to have your authentic moments of being goofy,” Earney said, “but then also knowing when to be serious and locked in.”
Wilhelm and Earney defend the middle infield at second base and shortstop. Foore said having a duo like them up the center is “special,” and their impact reaches far beyond their on-field play as Roman said they keep the team accountable and their expectations for the team are high.
“Those two are probably two of our craziest in a good way…,” Foore said, “and they’re probably two of our grittiest players, too.”
Wilhelm, who sees herself as an energy leader on the team, says her on-field persona is different from what she’s like off the field.
And Roman sees this version of Wilhelm on a daily basis.
“You cannot miss her voice,” Roman said. “If she’s not talking, I know we got a problem.”
The chemistry that exists between the two infielders stems from the communication that takes place in game situations, such as after each pitch.
“Roger that,” Earney said.
Another dynamic that exists on the team is the husband and wife coaching duo of Penny and Roman Foore, which she thinks establishes “a family atmosphere.”
Foore believes their coaching styles complement each other. She tends to explain things because she was a former teacher, meanwhile, Roman tends to be more direct, or as Foore says: “bark.”
For Mother’s Day — one of her favorite memories ever as a coach –he team banded together and bought her flowers, a devotional and the audience of one motto on a bracelet with a handwritten card.
“Wow, as the coach, I was like ‘wow, I’ve made it,’” Penny said. “I started crying, and I said ‘this is my first and best Mother’s Day present ever.’”
