As Hannah Dossett took swings off the batting tee, Syracuse assistant Alisa Goler knelt by her side, filming her form. Goler was once in Dossett’s position. She played at Georgia and gained experience from her journey through the Bulldogs’ record book. She rode that experience all the way to the professional ranks.

“It’s a lot of the mindset stuff we bring over,” Goler said. “We’ve been through it, we’ve been through the ranks of college. Anything (players) ask us, we’re probably going to have an answer for them.”

SU employs a four-person coaching staff. Head coach Mike Bosch is at the top, surrounded by three current professional softball players that give the Orange (17-9, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) opportunities to learn from players at the highest level. There are five teams and just over 125 active players who play in the National Pro Fast pitch softball league. Syracuse coaches have played for three different professional teams, with Goler set to move on to the Texas Charge this season.

“We may be the only one that has that many,” Bosch said. “They’ve been similar types of things that our players have been through. When you have someone who’s been through that already, you could draw upon that experience.”

All three — Goler, Kristyn Sandberg and Miranda Kramer — were teammates on the Pennsylvania Rebellion in 2015 before the team folded the following year. Their professional season runs during the collegiate offseason. Volunteer assistant coach Miranda Kramer has created her professional career pitching. Goler plays infield and Sandberg catches.

Kramer works with a young pitching staff but her left-handed throwing skills give her experience when it comes to coaching freshman pitcher Alexa Romero.

“She’s amazing — for me personally, I’ve really enjoyed talking to her and learning from her,” Romero said. “When I watched her over the summer, I got to learn from her then and I still learn from her now.”

The experience the Orange coaches have gives them insight to help players reach their full potential. While the priority is to win an ACC championship, the team feels that teaching individual players how to develop professional level skills can provide a similar effect.

“Every day you come out you have to work to improve,” Sandberg said. “Whether it’s hitting, whether it’s defensively. It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to train someone to become a professional athlete or simply to win our next game — it’s all about being competitive.”

Syracuse feels that the coaching staff experience from the college ranks is the most beneficial part of the professional connection they have. There are benefits of building the character and skills that come along with professional players. SU’s quick access to the pros gives the players close mentors that they can model themselves by.

“I played with eight or nine Olympians,” Sandberg said. “You could bring it back to your players and say so and so, who’s the best in the world fails the same way you do. Maybe this could help you, maybe this could help you succeed.”

Published on March 21, 2017 at 11:47 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary