{"id":55860,"date":"2024-06-13T03:36:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T08:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=55860"},"modified":"2024-06-13T03:36:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T08:36:57","slug":"ashley-chastain-calls-turning-sec-success-around-at-south-carolina-a-tall-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ashley-chastain-calls-turning-sec-success-around-at-south-carolina-a-tall-task\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley Chastain calls turning SEC success around at South Carolina a \u2018tall task\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashley Chastain is back in Columbia after over a decade away from the South Carolina<\/a><\/strong> softball program. Introduced as the Gamecocks\u2019 new head coach on Wednesday, she\u2019s now tasked with turning the program into an SEC powerhouse.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s easier said than done. Oklahoma<\/a><\/strong> and Texas<\/a><\/strong> enter the conference fresh off runs to the Women\u2019s College World Series final. That doesn\u2019t even include the six teams that already inhabit the SEC that won over 40 games during the 2024 season. Chastain was matter-of-fact when discussing the upcoming season\u2019s challenges. <\/p>\n

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\u201cYeah, it\u2019s all task, right? College softball is just really booming across the country now,\u201d Chastain said<\/a> at her introductory press conference on Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s really fun to watch the talent in the game, it\u2019s the best it\u2019s ever been. I\u2019m really excited for the challenge. You\u2019ll get to know me, but my staff and I \u2014 we love really great competition. So we\u2019re going to welcome those opportunities to play the best as we become one of the best. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get the right players. That\u2019s what it boils down to. We\u2019ve got to recruit really well. And that\u2019s not just on-field talent, but it\u2019s the right people off the field too. We just need to make sure that all across the board we have the right players and develop them into being the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historically, South Carolina hasn\u2019t had much success in that regard. Since joining the SEC in 1997, the Gamecocks have made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances during that stretch but have only advanced to a Super Regional twice in that span. Adding OU and Texas to the mix only complicates that goal further. <\/p>\n

Of course, that means that once those added guns join the SEC \u2014 it\u2019s Chastain\u2019s job as head coach to instill the belief in her team that South Carolina can beat anyone on any given day. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was something that we did really well at Charlotte as I think back to the teams that I\u2019ve coached the past few years,\u201d Chastain continued. \u201cWhen they put the uniform on, you know, they believe they can be anyone in the country. And, you know, they had a lot of success at some of those things. So, now for me, it\u2019s just to watch our current team put on the Carolina uniform and go out and believe that they\u2019re the best and that they\u2019re going to be anyone that they play. I think that\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be about.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, she helped lead her team to a 35-win season and the program\u2019s first-ever outright regular season conference championship. At the same time, Charlotte earned its first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This past season, she took Charlotte back to a regional tournament while also defeating ranked opponents such as Georgia<\/strong>, Virginia Tech<\/strong> and Arizona State<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll have more than a few opportunities to lead her team to upset victories over her first season back at South Carolina. However, it\u2019s now on her to turn those upsets into the new normal for the softball program in Columbia. <\/p>\n

The post Ashley Chastain calls turning SEC success around at South Carolina a \u2018tall task\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashley Chastain is back in Columbia after over a decade away from the South Carolina…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55886,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55860\/revisions\/55886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}