Head coach Chelsea Spencer has spent four years establishing a strong culture within the Cal softball clubhouse. Veteran players have bought in and are looking to lead the Bears to a deep postseason run in 2024.
Eric Hayrapetian, Joaquin Ruiz
Cal softball knows what it takes to win an NCAA Championship – the team saw it first-hand during its 16-3 loss-turned-elimination to eventual champion Oklahoma at the 2023 Norman Regional.
Roughly nine months after erasing its five-year tournament drought, a revamped Cal squad is ready to return to the Sooner State.
“I think we could win a championship,” said fifth-year Tatum Anzaldo. “I think we could be conference champions, go to the World Series, win a regional and then go to (Super Regionals). I think we can do all of that.”
Cal will turn to fourth-year head coach Chelsea Spencer to get back to the promised land. Since taking over the program after the 2020 season, she’s changed the culture in Berkeley.
After three years, Spencer’s Bears have steadily climbed from 17 to 35 wins — a testament to her recruiting ability and year-by-year focus.
“Our job, as coaches, is to produce,” Spencer explained. “And it's up to the student-athletes to compete for those spots. Every year, I tell them, ‘I have to out-recruit my freshman class every year. So, you guys better know that there are people that are coming into this program that are going to want to take your spot.’ ”
Spencer takes pride in molding young student-athletes into powerful leaders in both athletic and professional settings, reinforcing positive competition within the clubhouse.
No one embodied Spencer’s philosophy more than former Cal star Makena Smith. The fifth-year Bear was the team’s vocal leader and primary slugger before she was selected 15th in the Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft by the Smash It Sports Vipers in 2023.
Now without Smith, Cal must look elsewhere for veteran leadership — Anzaldo is prepared to fill the void.
“Tatum Anzaldo,” Spencer echoed. “We are very happy and proud of what she's done on this team. She is taking up more of a vocal leadership role. Her and (Smith) last year were pretty good side-by-side because they both played the corners and (demonstrated) vocal leadership on the infield.”
The fifth-year senior was comfortable co-leading beside Smith last season, and she will maintain her veteran presence in the 2024 campaign.
Anzaldo enters the 2024 season as one of Cal’s more versatile weapons. She has a career on-base percentage of .411, paired with 149 hits and 55 RBIs, and she is decorated with a .956 fielding percentage in fluctuating roles as an infielder and outfielder.
Most importantly, Anzaldo has formed a close relationship with Spencer, explaining the trust the tandem has built for each other.
“(Spencer) and I have been through a lot, being so similar in my younger years. (We aren’t) butting heads, but (she teaches) me life lessons, not just how to play the sport. So we've grown not just coach-to-player, but human-to-human,” Anzaldo said. “I think it gives us a dynamic that I'm sure a lot of players around the country have with their coach, especially older players like myself.”
“It helps when a coach has played at the school you've been to as well. Just being able to relate on that university level — understanding what it means to really be about the program that you're a part of,” she said. “Coach lights a fire in me that I can't explain to a lot of people or really put into words … She is the heart of the program. She inspires me every day. (She) inspires a lot of girls. She bleeds blue and gold and she’s instilled that in me.”
The player-coach relationship has flourished over the last four years, molding Anzaldo into the self-described “fierce and fearless” player she is at her best since arriving at Cal.
And now, it’s Anzaldo’s turn to mold the new faces arriving in Bear territory: Nine Bears are preparing to make their debuts this season.
Among them, Kaylee Pond isn’t new to Berkeley, as she missed the entire 2023 season due to injury after transferring from Iowa State. The redshirt sophomore, local to the Bay Area, is entering her fourth year at the Division I level but will be active for only her second season.
“I'll tell you this,” Spencer teased. “This is the sneaker on you right now: Kaylee Pond. She was (on the) All-Big 12 Freshman Team. I think she's going to be a pretty good secret weapon. Nobody has film on her, either. She's a mature hitter right now. She's older. She's on a different level mindset-wise right now. She's going to have a big time here.”
Pond had a .395 on-base percentage in her lone 2022 season as a Cyclone, with 32 hits, 15 RBIs, 29 walks, two home runs and five stolen bases.
Pond also offers a new glove to replace Smith at third base, starting in all 52 of her appearances at the hot corner.
“Oh my gosh,” Pond said in response to Spencer’s praise. “A ‘secret weapon’ — that's exciting.”
While the Iowa State transfer bears a perhaps understated bat and overall resume, Pond made it clear that her climb back to the diamond was no easy feat — it pushed her to grow stronger on and off the field.
“When you take such pride in your athletic abilities, whether it's softball or just being an athlete in general, any injury is hard,” Pond emphasized. “No injury is easier than the next. But, I will say (the injuries) honestly make you that much stronger of a person.”
“The Cal staff was super supportive through my recovery process, which I don't feel like I felt through my other injuries, whether they were in high school or at Iowa State,” Pond recalled. “We kind of knew that coming back for last season wasn't an option. So, we just kind of set up a plan for me to come back (this) year, and I honestly feel like I've never been stronger.”
Pond isn’t alone in offering Cal promise with years to spare. Elon Butler is following a freshman season in which the infielder had 43 hits, 31 RBIs and 10 home runs, also earning Pac-12 All-Conference third team and All-Freshman team honors.
And it’s senior Diamond Holland’s “year of application,” according to Anzaldo, as the “Gold Glove” outfielder has the tools to be an all-conference player with a threatening bat.
Pitching-wise, the Bears will roll out ace Haylei Archer for her fourth season in Berkeley. She leads a veteran pitching staff with 308.2 innings pitched and career 5.07 ERA, and like Anzaldo, has been a part of the evolving Cal softball program since Spencer took over.
“(Archer’s) a woman now,” Spencer said. “I can't believe she's in her fourth year with this program. I just remember her first year, when it was my first year too. Me, her and Tatum have grown through all those years to be the people we are today.”
With the pieces set and the culture built, Cal will embark on its journey back to the NCAA tournament starting Thursday on the road against McNeese. Anzaldo and Spencer will have one last dance for postseason softball as the curtains close on Cal’s era in the Pac-12.
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