As hordes of rowdy bedlamites file into the Kyle Field bleachers during fall, another team is quietly preparing on the other side of campus — without some of the familiar pillars it once relied on.
Texas A&M softball, helmed by coach Trisha Ford in her fourth year in Aggieland, crashed out of the postseason in May — becoming the first No. 1 seed to get picked off in its own regional thanks to a pair of losses to Liberty. Those teary-eyed emotions felt after the knockout game still echo within Davis Diamond, according to Ford.
“I probably will never forget that feeling for the rest of my coaching career, but I am always somebody that will face things head on,” Ford said. “We talk about it a lot. … I hope to never have to go through that again, but we have to learn from it, move forward and grow from it. I think that was going to be something that hopefully helps us propel forward this year and from years to come. That’s always going to be part of our history, and we have to kind of own it and move forward.”
This year, A&M has questions to answer all throughout its lineup with only one returning starter entrenched in the position she mainstayed last season. These questions, Ford said, may not be fully answered until the start of Southeastern Conference play or even into April.
“[Associate head coach Jeff Harger] reminded me that we just have really Kennedy Powell, KP, playing third base, and everybody else is pretty much playing a new position,” Ford said. “So [sophomore outfielder] Frankie [Vrazel] is obviously playing right field, or she started in right field, so she played there last year quite a bit. But other than that, we kind of have a lot of new bodies in new places.”
And the biggest change yet? Ford will be without program cornerstones Rawlings Gold Glove-winning shortstop Koko Wooley and left-handed pitcher Emiley Kennedy — known affectionately as “Lefty” around Davis Diamond — for the first first time in her Aggie tenure. Ford called it “weird” to not have Kennedy around, noting it’s the first time the circle won’t have a go-to arm for big games.
Following Kennedy’s departure to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, the Maroon and White needed another southpaw to play in the circle.
Enter senior LHP Taylor Pannell. The Missouri transfer is the NCAA’s Division I leader in career saves with 24, using her changeup to become one of the SEC’s premier closers.
“I think the biggest thing about Taylor is I recruited her because of her insides and kind of her mentality on the field,” Ford said. “Trying to get her obviously acclimated to Aggieland, which she has loved, but also getting in with our other pitchers’ ears about kind of how to handle pressure, how to handle big situations. … So something that, you know, I really lean on her hard to bring to the table.”
Pannell headlines one of the most highly regarded transfer classes in the country alongside senior infielder Tallen Edwards, redshirt senior INF Micaela Wark, junior OF Maya Bland and sophomore INF Paislie Allen. Ford praised the group’s athleticism and positive energy.
“You have Paislie that came in, who’s played middle infield her whole life,” Ford said. “She started in left field, and very unselfish, I would say, would be kind of the two key components of this whole recruiting class coming in. Tallen Edwards has been a Gold Glover at third base, started at second base. Micaela Wark, another one that came in, who’s been, you know, obviously a staple at Okie State played some first base for us.”
In addition to the five transfers and three incoming freshmen, Ford may have an ace up her pinstriped jersey sleeve: redshirt sophomore utility player Ariel Kowalewski. The Florida transfer was ineligible to play in 2025 due to a mid-season December 2024 transfer, but she hit .308 and eight home runs as a true freshman in Gainesville.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to get AK out on the field,” Ford said. “So SEC rules, it’s a complete year she has to sit. So we’re in the middle of trying to see if we can get her at all this fall. Most likely not. I come into the office on Saturday to get some things for the game, and who is in the cage hitting? AK. … All I can say is I’m very confident that the game is going to pay her back for all of her patience and her work.”
The straw that stirs the proverbial drink is the bat of junior designated player Mya Perez. The All-American slugger was busy this offseason, participating in the MLB’s Home Run Derby X and representing Mexico in the Pan American Championship. Ford highlighted the potential of Perez and Wark as a power-hitting one-two punch, similar to what Perez had with DP Mac Barbara last season.
“I think Mya, you know, is everything that I thought she was going to be,” Ford said. “ … She understands her swing. She’s more comfortable in her skin. It’s probably the best way I could put it, is that she understands what pitches to attack, how to attack it. … She understands what it takes to be a high-level hitter at this level.”
Outside of star sophomore INF KK Dement likely sliding over to Wooley’s vacancy at shortstop, Ford acknowledged the lack of certainty on the reworked roster. With three 10-inning fall-ball tussles with Baylor, McLennan and Texas State on the schedule this week, Ford will begin the process of deciphering her new-look lineup one opportunity at a time.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of moving parts this year,” Ford said. “I think we’re going to give some people some opportunities. They’re going to earn those opportunities, and then we’re going to be able to kind of settle in with what that looks like. So hopefully, March, April.”
