Ryan Cooper likes what he has seen from his Kansas Wesleyan softball team in the preseason and isn't hesitant to voice his optimism.
"This is just a really a good year because everybody knows the expectations and standards," said Cooper who is entering his third season as the Coyotes' coach. "The big reason why they came here is what we had for them in their recruiting meetings."
The Coyotes were 24-20 overall (13-13 in the Kansas Conference) last season after going 18-25 overall in Cooper's first season.
"I've told everybody this - taking over a program doesn't just turn into something you want overnight," he said. "Only two people are in our program that we didn't recruit. We have a lot of new players and I'm really excited about that.
"To win a conference championship it's not being the most talented team, it's who wants it and we're starting to get some players that really want to do what it takes to win so that's exciting."
The Coyotes showed resilience last season. After losing 10 of 11 in one stretch they promptly won nine of 10. Consistency is the key and Cooper believes his 2025 team will be capable of that.
It starts with pitching and KWU will lean on senior Caitlyn Collier once again after a sensational junior season in which she went 7-5 with a 1.63 earned run average and was named Second Team All-KCAC.
"Caitlin was one of the best pitchers in the conference last year and she's got to do some big things for us," he said.
Cooper is counting on younger players to contribute in the circle as well, among them sophomores Allie Mickelsen, Haven Byerly and freshman Bella Allen.
"Any one of them we're hoping can step up and be that game two starter or come in and shut them down when CC's out," he said. "If they can get some consistency, they can be really good for us."
Of equal importance for Cooper is generating more offense. KWU averaged 4.5 runs, had a .278 team batting average and hit just nine home runs in 44 games a year ago.
"You can't always get into a 2-1 game so if we can elevate to great offensively - and I think we can - we can definitely find ways to beat those teams and compete for a conference championship," he said. "What we've done in the past is score four runs in an inning and then we don't score the rest of the game. We need to manufacture runs. I think we have the players now with that mindset and that toughness to get it done."
Senior outfielder Josie Buhr returns after hitting .359 and earning Second Team All-KCAC honors but is recuperating from a hand injury and won't be available for the start of the season. Senior first baseman Trenity Miller returns after hitting .309 and leading the team with 30 runs batted. Third baseman Jenna Soule is back for her senior season as well.
"She hit like .420 in non-conference but kind of tailed off in conference," Cooper said of Miller. "(Soule) is going to play a bigger role than she has in the past two years at third base. Defensively she was great and I think she's taken a step offensively."
There are several newcomers of note. Infielders Cadence Miller and Shiloh Johnson from Garden City Community College and Elli Han from Ellsworth CC have joined the team and are expected to contribute as well. Freshman Calie Worsham will play shortstop, freshman Briannah Kutschkau is a base stealing threat and will see duty in the outfield and freshman Brooklyn Lange will likely start at catcher and also play in the outfield.
KWU was picked seven in the conference coaches' preseason poll. Evangel was first, Friends second and Ottawa and Avila tied for third.
"We have to be better if we're going to beat Ottawa and Friends and Evangel," Cooper said. "There are 10 really good teams in our conference and anybody can beat anybody. The KCAC has usually been like three or four teams and everybody else is behind. Everybody across the board has gotten so much better."