BAM.
 
By Any Means.
 
The Howard Softball team has been using this motto all season long. A season of growth. A season of finding themselves. A season of perseverance. A season of togetherness. You could see the togetherness as members of the team filed into the room together, joking and laughing as if they have been close for more than just the one or two years, they have been able to bond here at HU.
 
This team is young, comprised of 26 players, including 22 of them being underclassmen. While many of them were freshmen last year during the championship season, growing into more pivotal roles has not been easy. Managing those growing pains while trying to go by a motto with that much weight behind it has not been any easier.
 
"With youth, it's been tougher to be consistent," said Howard Softball head coach Tori Tyson. "By any means isn't at your convenience. By any means, regardless of the circumstance, regardless of how it impacts you, is finding a way to win, finding a way of being successful, finding a way to be a teammate."
 
This is Tyson's fifth season as head coach, and first after the historic championship season of 2022. Coming off a season like that and losing a lot of experienced players has been tough, but Tyson has seen the growth in this team already. She described a team heart-to-heart talk before their South Carolina State series last month, which ended in a 2-1 series loss, as being a pivotal moment that shifted the trajectory of the season for them.
 
"In the movies, when you have those kinds of talks, you win–that didn't happen for us," said Tyson. "But what started happening after was kind of what we needed. Now, we are just talking about being all in with each other. A lot of this is just about being a good person, a good teammate, doing the right things and you'll start seeing those L's turn into W's."
 
Clearly, the team took that to heart, as they won six of their final seven and secured themselves fourth place in the conference for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament. A handful of members of the team gave their thoughts on the run-up to the tournament and the run they have been on.
 
"We just started falling back on relying on each other instead of being more about our own results," said sophomore Lealani Ricks (Madera, Calif.). "We got more comfortable with each other – our chemistry got way better – so obviously, we're going to work better together if our chemistry is better."
 
"Our approach for the rest of the season is to just win moments," added graduate Kalita Dennis (Elk Grove, Calif.). "As a young team, we can't get bigger than ourselves. So, controlling what we can control at the time has been a big part of our approach."
 
Going back to that motto, "BAM," the team talked about how they have used that to set their course this year.
 
"By any means, we're going to get this done no matter what," said Ricks. "By any means, we're going to get this girl out, we're going to do whatever it takes for us, collectively as a team, to do what we have to do."
 
Hearing that team success has become so important for this squad, it is obvious that their focus is on picking each other up and advancing through this tournament as a unit.
 
"In order to win moments, you have to be selfless and be there for the person beside you," explained sophomore Alyssa Vasquez (Downey, Calif.). "That's been something we've done really well the last couple of weeks, especially with how our season started."
 
Their first game of the tournament against Coppin State, the team lost, but will have another chance Thursday to redeem themselves. Thursday's win-or-go home scenario will be a good test of the team chemistry they have been building.
 
"As long as we get the job done, that's a team win," concluded Dennis.
 
A win would be a strong statement for a team that has overcome a shaky start to enter the tournament with upward momentum. They will have to bring their A-game and they are prepared to do that, by any means.
 
"Working together, taking things one pitch at a time," said sophomore Mia Gonzales (Atwater, Calif.). "Passing the bat off."
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.