Challenges for Cal softball's new coach? No home field and a team of mostly freshmen
· Yahoo Sports
Steve Singleton became Cal's softball head coach in August, late in the typical hiring process. He inherited a roster that had been gutted by transfers and graduations. The Bears are nomads this season, as what was known as Levine-Fricke Field is being renovated and will reopen next season.
"It's definitely been a little bit of adversity that most teams aren't dealing with," Singleton said in an understatement.
Visit raccoongame.org for more information.
Cal plays no home nonconference games in 2026 and its four "home" ACC series will be held at Sacramento State's Shea Stadium (vs. Duke, March 6-8) or at Saratoga's West Valley College (the subsequent three series).
During the fall, the Bears alternated their practices between Maxwell Family Field (the artificial-turf facility just north of Memorial Stadium) and Stu Gordon Stadium, home to the baseball team. The practices now are solely at Maxwell.
"Even with the chaos," Singleton said, "there's a consistency to it," now that the season has begun and the practices are in one spot.
Cal began its schedule last weekend at the Stanford Invitational. Over the first two days, the Bears lost twice to Oklahoma State and were run-ruled 10-2 by San Jose State before beating the Spartans 1-0 on Sunday and then falling 7-2 to the Cardinal.
"The last day was great," Singleton said, "and that's hard to say because I'm not a fan of losing games, especially to our rivals. But I think where we are, we have to be realistic with our team.
"We're essentially a team of freshmen when it comes to opportunity and experience. And so for that reason, we have to give ourselves a little grace and look at the moments that we are winning."
In that victory over SJSU, freshman Mya McGowan threw a four-hitter; the Bears got a relay from left fielder Kayla Lee to infielder Maddie Rey to catcher Anya German to cut down a possible run in the fifth inning; and center fielder Kayli Counts made a grab above the wall to rob a homer in the seventh.
Singleton said his players "showed a lot of resilience, a lot of grit, a lot of determination" in that win, "and those are pillars of what we talk about here. So, that was really important for our program."
The Cal program played in each of the past three postseasons and owns a distinguished history, highlighted by a national title in 2002. Chelsea Spencer, the shortstop on that championship team, was the Bears' head coach from 2021 through last season. She resigned in June.
Enter Singleton, a Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland alum who was an infielder for the University of San Diego and was an 11th-round selection by the Minnesota Twins in 2006. After a six-season playing career in the minor leagues and then working as a baseball coach in college and the minors, Singleton switched to coaching softball as he joined the University of Texas staff in July 2019.
He spent six seasons with the Longhorns, who won their first softball national championship last year with Singleton as the associate head coach on Mike White's staff.
Singleton, his Cal staff and players have to balance knowing what their program was and what it can become with the reality of what's feasible in 2026.
"I don't want any of us to put away our competitiveness and to put away our willingness to prepare and buy in and dive in and invest to try to be the best we can right now," Singleton said.
"I think we can do both. I think we can look at the bigger picture and go after it the same way that we would if this (were) four or five years from now."
The Bears got something of a glimpse into their future by playing at Stanford last weekend. The Cardinal christened newly renovated Stanford Softball Stadium with a 4-2 victory over Oklahoma State on Feb. 5.
Singleton said that he and his team were "watching (the Cardinal) open that place with a great crowd, playing Oklahoma State, a great team, getting a win – all of that," adding that their discussion then went to "when our (stadium) comes and looking forward to that."
Steve Kroner is a freelance writer. Email: [email protected]; X: @SteveKronerSF
This article originally published at Challenges for Cal softball's new coach? No home field and a team of mostly freshmen.