In the absence of live college softball for much of the year, television has taken up the mantle for softball fans. ESPN now regularly broadcasts a plethora of games from their video archives and recently, one of those games that graced the airwaves was Georgia’s 2016 Super Regional victory over Florida.
Significant underdogs from the outset, the Bulldogs went to Gainesville and upset the #1-seeded Gators in two games to earn a berth in the Women’s College World Series. A major weapon in the Bulldogs’ attack that weekend was the right arm of Chelsea Wilkinson.
Then the Bulldogs’ senior ace, Wilkinson pitched all fourteen innings of the Super Regional for her team, holding the Gators to eight hits and just two runs in the series to lead her team to the WCWS. A four-time All-SEC selection, Wilkinson also earned All-American honors as a sophomore.
Now finishing her second season as the pitching coach at North Carolina State, Wilkinson recently sat down with JWOS to talk about her playing career; watching herself on TV; her budding coaching career; and more.
Justin’s World of Softball: Let’s start with the 2016 Super Regional against Florida. What was going through your mind during that series, a series that your team was not “supposed” to win, on paper?
Chelsea Wilkinson: Well, it’s funny because, in 2016 during the selection show, we really didn’t honestly think we would even get the #16 seed. So when they called our name out, we were super excited that we were hosting, but we also saw that we would be matched up against Florida if we made Supers. And it was crazy because all of us got so excited and we were actually speaking out loud to one another, saying ‘we can beat Florida,’ because we had success against them multiple times during our career as a senior class. And so we had it in our mind and in our hearts that we could upset them, and we were comfortable playing at Florida, because we had done it before. We obviously didn’t ever look regionals, but once we got through regionals, we were excited and there was a lot of enthusiasm, just knowing that we had a shot at it. And we knew that we were capable of doing it.
JWOS: Y’all had not played Florida during the regular season that year.
Wilkinson: No, we hadn’t, but we had beaten Florida during what I want to say was my freshman year, and we beat them at their home. Then in my sophomore year, we beat them in the SEC tournament, so we beat them a couple of times. And we had just that confidence and that belief in ourselves that we could do it again.
JWOS: So I’m going to skip over game one of the Super Regional and go straight to game two. You’re now one win away from the World Series; did your mindset change at all between games one and two, or were you completely stone-faced all the way until the last pitch?
Wilkinson: I was completely stone-faced because I knew that Florida is such an incredible team and program, and they were perfectly capable of coming out and winning back-to-back games. And so I just tried to forget about game one, to be honest; I had a conversation with my dad about it, and my mindset was something like, ‘Okay, that’s done and now it’s a whole new day, a whole new series, so to speak. And I have to get through their lineup, you know, three, maybe four more times.’ So I was just completely stone-faced; just trying to take it one pitch at a time and get through it in that manner. Like I said, I knew they were capable of winning two games in a row. That was never a question.
JWOS: Did you go into that series expecting to throw every inning?
Wilkinson: Coach had told me that I was starting the first game. And so I was prepared for that. And then after, we won that one, she told me ‘you’re going again in game two.’ And so I knew, going to sleep after game one, that I was going to be out there again. And that was something that was always there; she would let us know in advance. So that we were just in a good headspace when we got there and all of that. So I did know at that point that I was going in game two. And we hadn’t really discussed game three; that was something that we didn’t really want to do; taking it one game at a time.
JWOS: Once you officially stamped your ticket to the World Series, what emotions were you feeling at that point?
Wilkinson: It’s honestly something that I can’t even describe, because it was just literally every emotion all into one. It was something that we’d talked about, Oklahoma City. That was always our goal, for four years, and in my sophomore and junior years, we fell short in the Supers. It was super heartbreaking then knowing we were just fourteen innings away from Oklahoma City. And so to know we were going, we were just ecstatic. And I think my dad was honestly as excited as anything. It was so cool at the end, because I called my parents to come down on the field after we beat Florida, and just hugging and interacting with them was such an incredible feeling. And then also, to get Coach [Lu Harris-Champer] back to Oklahoma City, because it had been a couple of years, and she’s so deserving of being there every year, honestly. It was one of the best days of my life, for sure.
JWOS: Can you take me through your preparation process as a pitcher, specifically in the vein of being a workhorse in the circle, because preparing to pitch and preparing to throw 14 innings in roughly 36 hours is a whole different process, I would imagine. Is that fair?
Wilkinson: I was a workhorse in high school as well; I threw every inning of every game, and it was never really a question. So going into college, I think I didn’t really know any different, to be perfectly honest. I *wanted* the ball every game, every inning, and I think it comes down to the fact that I’m a competitor and I have a crazy, burning desire to win. And I know that if the ball is in my hands, I can kind-of control that. So I think that’s why, and I wanted to be prepared to get the ball as much as possible, too, through conditioning and high pitch counts and bullpens and things like that.
JWOS: Was there ever a time where you really had to battle through exhaustion or tiredness because you were that workhorse in the circle?
Wilkinson: Every weekend in the SEC is just so challenging, mentally and physically, to face hitters like that over and over again. But I think one thing that comes to mind is Super Regionals against Michigan, my junior year. I just did not have my best stuff at all. And I stayed out there and I think I walked probably three or four people in an inning, and I just didn’t do that a lot. So that was mentally exhausting, because I just had to fight through it. I knew I didn’t have my best stuff, but our other pitcher was hurt at that time. And so I had to stay out there and just battle through it, so to speak. So I think that’s one that stands out in my mind; wearing the workhorse title was not fun that weekend.
JWOS: Moving ahead more to the present day, with the numerous championship experiences that you had – including the SEC tournament championship in 2014 – how have those experiences affected you, as a coach now and in how you guide your pitching staff?
Wilkinson: I think the main thing is that idea of having a taste of it, so now I want our girls to get to experience it. Because I know how amazing it is and how incredible it feels. And I want our players to experience that so badly. And I think the other thing is, maybe because I’m recently out of school myself, I’m still very relatable to our pitchers, and I try to be a mentor to them, because I was in their shoes not that long ago and I know what they’re experiencing.
JWOS: Did you watch the televised replay a couple of weeks ago, the game from the 2016 Super?
Wilkinson: Yes, I did.
JWOS: What was it like to watch yourself on TV like that, and to relive that day?
Wilkinson: It was honestly nerve-racking. In game two, there was an inning where Florida scored two runs; I think I hit two batters. When the inning started, I was sitting there with my family, and I was going ‘don’t do it, don’t do it,’ and then sure enough. Of course, I knew it was coming, but it was super cool to watch and relive those moments with my family.
JWOS: Did you find yourself putting on the hat of a casual softball viewer or more of an analytical approach since you knew what pitch was coming?
Wilkinson: Definitely more analytical. It was cool to get to watch it, see what pitch was coming and all of that. Just to be able to watch and process all of that, I was definitely more analytical, but I’m that way anyway.
JWOS: When the game ended, were you feeling some of the same emotions that you did back in 2016 when it was actually happening?
Wilkinson: Not to that level, but absolutely. It definitely changed my mood after watching it; I was super giddy and smiley and things like that. Just seeing all of that again, and seeing the celebrations after the game, which I didn’t even know they had shown. All of us hugging and celebrating in the outfield and all of that was super cool to see.
