Over the past 32 games this season, Illinois has faced an ample amount of adversity. But with every challenge comes an opportunity. The team has overcome obstacles that have stood in its way, creating a strong emotional bond and mental toughness. As a cohesive unit, the Illini take their old and new knowledge, skills and techniques and apply it each week.

On Thursday, the team will head back out on the road for a four-game series against Northwestern. Their opponent currently sits at a 22-10 record, though they are on a three-game losing streak. The Illini are ready for the challenge; with a 20-12 record, they’re expecting to give the Wildcats a run for their money.

“I want to see us continue to overcome that adversity and really put the pressure on the other team,” said senior Shelby Stauffenberg. “This means taking us out of the pressure situation, no matter winning or losing.” 

Illinois aims to follow one of its many mottos as it invests in its competitive excellence: “winners win.” Earlier in the season, the Illini all sat down as a team and watched Michael Jordan’s inspirational and motivational series “The Last Dance.” Stauffenberg mentions how she and her teammates resonate with Jordan’s perseverance to always push through and overcome personal struggles in achieving success. 

Striving to be the toughest team with the best mentality, the Illini use their motivation to overpower their weaknesses and challenges they have faced. Through wins and losses, struggles and successes, it’s important for the Illini to play to the best of their ability. 

“Softball is 99% mental and 1% physical,” Stauffenberg said. “You have to have the mental capacity to be able to focus on that ball and to overcome your inner self, because it’s hard to get over your bad at-bat or bad play on defense. You have to mentally snap out of it in three seconds. ”

Like many sports, softball is mostly a mental rather than physical game. With a strong team mentality, the Illini are prepared to put the pressure on the Wildcats. One way Stauffenberg emphasizes doing this is by winning the “freebie wars” — errors and walks — and being tough on offense and defense. 

“One of our goals is to be one of the toughest teams with the best mentality,” Stauffenberg said. “Our defense has physically been struggling with freebie wars. This weekend we proved that we set the limit. We set the limit in our expectations for our team and personal defense.”

The Illini’s success comes from working together, as each player brings their own individual energy to the team. With effort being put in by each team member, they are able to apply this competitive exertion to their performance. Without high energy, though, the team often struggles to produce their desired outcome. The team stresses investing in one another to find their highest potential.  

“You have to really bind into your teammates because they’re going to be your sisters for life,” Stauffenberg said. “I can call every single one of my teammates, and they’d be there for me in a heartbeat. Our bond is ridiculous.”

Moving forward, the team continues to manifest its success through togetherness on and off the field. While their connections strengthen, so does their competitive assurance to produce expected results. Their emotionally strong bonds aid this mentally tough team toward success. As Jordan said, “talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Looking ahead, the Illini see more than solely three series left in the season. With high expectations and even higher energy, the team strives to play until the 2021 Women’s College World Series. 

“Energy is a big factor for us,” Stauffenberg said. “I would love to continue to see everyone having fun and genuinely bind into our process of our program and the culture. If everyone binds and trusts our process, we can outbreak our potential and finally become the team that we want to be.”

@allendeauguste

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