“You have to go one day at a time. By doing that you can’t look into the past, either. If you had a bad game the other day, so what. It is a new day,” Coffel said. “I think really being open minded about that and just being grateful for where I am at and playing every single game like it is my last is how I approach the season.
Coach Rachel Lawson can still remember telling Erin Coffel when she verbally committed to Kentucky as a high school freshman that she had to continue to be the same person and do things on and off the field to develop her skills.
“I told her if she changed the way she went about things, then the deal (to play at Kentucky) was off,” said Lawson. “She said she had changed her goals and was working on being the best player she could be."
It has worked out pretty well for Coffel, Lawson and the Kentucky softball team. Coffel started as a freshman even though Lawson had thought about redshirting her and has had a historic career. She broke the all-time UK career record for home runs and RBI’s this season and has the No. 1 all-time slugging percentage at UK.
Not only that, Lawson said Coffel, an All-American, has made herself an “elite” defender.
“You have to go one day at a time. By doing that you can’t look into the past, either. If you had a bad game the other day, so what. It is a new day,” Coffel said. “I think really being open minded about that and just being grateful for where I am at and playing every single game like it is my last is how I approach the season.
“I don’t really think about hitting home runs or any of the records or anything like that. That has been the story of my career. I just go out there, trust myself and whatever happens, happens.”
What Coffel hopes will eventually happen is that she will be a member of the U.S. Olympic team. That’s been her dream for years.
“Not that I like to think about my senior season ending but I will have to move on. I have been thinking about that a lot and I don’t think the work is ever going to stop until I reach that (the Olympics),” Coffel said. “I really want to go into coaching. I think that has kind of been my calling. I have been doing lessons and stuff at home when I helped coach my old travel ball team this summer. I think that is my calling. I want to be a GA (graduate assistant) somewhere. Not sure where but hopefully in the SEC.”
Former UK All-American catcher Kayla Kowalik, Coffel’s teammate for three years, is now a graduate assistant at Kentucky. Another former teammate, Grace Baalman, is now UK’s pitching coach. However, Coffel is not sure about even asking to join Lawson’s staff.
“I have been going back and forth since I have been here four years and know them very well versus learning something new from other people. I think I could always come back here, though, or hope that is right,” Coffel said.
“I absolutely love this place. I love Lexington and the university. It has been a dream come true. It kind of makes me emotional to think about it and having to move all the stuff out of my house that I have lived in for three years and made it my home. It has been great here.”
