There are few coaching tandems in the game of softball that are as well-known or as successful as Ralph and Karen Weekly have been at Tennessee. Co-head coaches of the Lady Vols since 2002, this husband-and-wife pair have a reputation as excellent individual coaches and a dynamite tandem.
Seven-time Women’s College World Series qualifiers, the Weeklys’ squad earned the distinction of being the first SEC team to appear in the WCWS championship series, riding the arm of Monica Abbott to the season’s final games in 2007. The Lady Vols also became the first-ever SEC program to record a win in the championship series, claiming victory in game one before ultimately falling in the final two games of the best-of-three matchup.
In 2019, the Lady Vols reached the Super Regionals for the eleventh time under the Weeklys’ leadership, but were paired against a conference foe for the third consecutive year, with a trip back to Oklahoma City on the line.
“To tell you the truth, we want to go badly to the World Series,” Ralph Weekly said. “Every other team does in that situation. [2019 Super Regional opponent] Florida, of course, is a worthwhile opponent for us and anybody else in the country. I think they’re one of the strongest programs… this conference is just brutal, because all of the teams are good. So it’s going to happen again, [but]I hope we get a break this year.”
A highlight of the Lady Vols’ 2019 offering was the emergence of a number of young players that often stole the spotlight and came through in key situations for the team. The production and contributions from their underclassmen is something that did not go unnoticed from the coach’s box.
“I believe that our freshman class last year was one of the best in the country,” Karen Weekly said. “What we liked about them when we signed them, and then when they arrived on campus, was their competitiveness and their mental toughness. We felt like a lot of those kids could come in and compete at a high level right away because of that, and I think they showed that. We’ve got another good freshman class this year, and we feel like, with these two classes, we’ve got some great talent, but more importantly to some, some great softball IQ and kids that really want to compete.”
One of the standout freshmen was Ashley Rogers, who quickly emerged as the team’s ace in the circle. Rogers finished the season with a 1.94 ERA and 209 strikeouts in just over 173 innings of work, earning first-team all-SEC and all-Region honors for her efforts. In 2020, the Weeklys expect to rely on Rogers, but also make use of one of their deepest pitching staffs in recent memory.
“Ashley has really high expectations of herself,” Karen Weekly said. “I don’t know if anyone could impose the kind of expectations on her that are any higher than what she demands from herself. The loss [in Super Regionals]down in Florida left a really sour taste in her mouth, and she’s come back this fall feeling even better than she did during the season. It’s not often that you see a freshman come in and make all-SEC and have the kind of year that she did, but she’s a very special pitcher and competitor.”
“We’ve got Callie Turner coming in this year as a freshman, and she was a member of our Junior National Team,” Weekly continued. “We’re excited about having a lefty to compliment Ashley. We’re got another freshman, Anna Hazelwood, that a lot of people may not have heard of. She’s a Tennessee girl, a big, strong player that we think has a lot of potential. We’ve also got a transfer redshirt sophomore from Iona, Sam Bender, who’s doing some really nice things for us and just has the maturity and experience from already having been in college for two years. We think we have a staff that is going to be really well-rounded and be able to show a little bit of everything and change looks for hitters.”
Midway through the 2019 season, freshman catcher Ally Shipman was lost for the year due to injury. She did not play during the fall season, earning her medical clearance only shortly before her team’s final performances of the calendar year. Nevertheless, she’ll be ready to go for the spring, and figures prominently into the Lady Vols’ offensive plans in her sophomore season.
“We always want to be an attacking team; we want to be able to mix in a little bit of speed,” Ralph Weekly said. “We’ve always had a couple of really good slappers who can hit away, and then we have the same makeup this year. We want to hit more home runs this year. We hit a good bit last year, but we need to hit the ball because it’s a hitter’s game in the SEC. And then defense, and I think most coaches would agree with that. You still have to have a good defense.”
Replacing Aubrey Leach at the top of the lineup is a top priority for the Lady Vols as the 2020 season nears: “For four years, we were blessed with one of the best leadoff hitters in the game, a position where you didn’t even have to think about it when you filled out the lineup card. It’s a little weird coming to the park and not automatically knowing who your leadoff hitter is going to be, but we have some great options. It may be a different look than in the past, but we like the options and we know we’ve got somebody who can step up.”
While the Weeklys are clear that their aim is to return to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series in 2020, they say that academics also remain a top priority for their team. “We allow our students to take any class they want. If they need to be out at two or three in the afternoon to go to class or go to labs, they get it. There are other schools that do that, but it’s not unanimous,” Ralph Weekly said. “And the fact of the matter is that our kids responded with the top team GPA in the SEC.” The Lady Vols are as good in the classroom as they are on the field.
Tennessee will open the 2020 season on February 8th at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. The non-conference schedule also includes a trip south of the border for the second week of the Puerto Vallarta College Classic.
