Griz begin makeover with 12 newcomers

New Montana softball coach Stef Ewing, hired in late June, wasted no time putting her stamp on her first team, a change noticeable to anyone who made their way to Grizzly Softball Field this fall for any of the team's exhibition games.

But well before the team's first fall practice in early September, probably more like minutes after she hung up the phone after accepting the job, Ewing began working behind the scenes on Montana's teams of the future.

That effort paid off in a big way the last few weeks as 12 high school players signed University of Montana scholarship contracts and will be first-year Grizzlies next fall.

Yes, a dozen is a lot, a lot for a team that has 21 this season and is scheduled to be capped at 25 by the NCAA within a handful of years, but it was all part of the plan.

"It's a very large class. There is no doubt about that, but it gives us an opportunity to really instill our system and have this class be the one, along with the returners who will be back, of changing what this is and building our system and our brand of softball," said Ewing.

"We're going to have table-setters, players who can steal bases, kids who can hit for power and kids who can hit for average along with playing really good defense. And adding depth to the circle was a must."

Half of Montana's newcomers will come from the Pacific Northwest, from Idaho, Washington and Oregon, but Ewing, who previously coached at Cal State San Marcos, also tapped California for four players and added one from Arizona and one from Wyoming, a first for the Grizzlies.

From Idaho, Ewing signed Jenna Barney (corner infielder; Lewiston, Idaho; Lewiston HS), Layla Gugino (infielder; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Lake City HS), Kaci Kiblen (outfielder/first baseman; Moscow, Idaho; Moscow HS) and Makinzie Nelson (pitcher; Hailey, Idaho; Wood River HS).

From Washington and Oregon the Grizzlies will add Ava Puttler (outfielder; Puyallup, Wash.; Emerald Ridge HS) and Mya Ward (middle infielder; Salem, Ore.; West Salem HS).

The four players from California are Jessica Cherms (outfielder; Placentia, Calif.; El Dorado HS), Gracyn Graviette (catcher; Acampo, Calif.; Liberty Ranch HS), Brianna Gutierrez (middle infielder/utility; Fontana, Calif.; Etiwanda HS) and Kailee Mejia (middle infielder; Whittier, Calif.; St. Paul HS).

Also signing were Audriana Elias (pitcher, Tucson, Ariz.; Salpointe Catholic HS) and Kodi Allred (catcher/shortstop; Mountain View, Wyo.; Mountain View HS/Green River HS).

Yes, it's a lot of players. It's also a lot of talent that gives the class the potential to be impactful, the kind made by 15 freshmen on Montana's first-ever team, in 2015, who in their third year were playing in the NCAA tournament.

"I'm excited to get them here and see how much more athletic we'll immediately become when we have our first practice and how many options we're going to have," Ewing said.

"They are great culture kids, kids who are going to work hard. They love the University of Montana and what we're all about. And they can play.

"I told all of them, come in ready to take somebody's spot. That's the name of the game. Get in here, own your moment and let's see who is going to be relentless and rise to the top. We'll play a different brand of softball than we have in the past. This is just the start of the next era."

Had Ewing been hired a decade ago to take over a softball program and gotten the job in late June, there would have been almost nothing left to choose from when it came to recruiting high school players.

But the sport and profession have changed, as college coaches wait longer and longer, wanting first to see what becomes available in the late-spring transfer portal while also eyeing roster limits coming down the road.

That change has left more and more rising seniors uncommitted the summer before their final year of high school, which played right into Ewing's hand and situation. Her fall was all coaching this year's team and hosting official visits during home football weekends.

Every day was spent building the Grizzlies of her vision, both this year and beyond.

"No. 1, I had to learn our roster and who we have and understand our senior class and what is graduating. We'll be graduating a tremendous group of young ladies," Ewing said.

That senior class is six strong, but Ewing wasn't going to simply replace six with six more. She wants depth, and not just depth but versatile depth, and not just versatile depth but athleticism throughout, and a pitching staff that might go six or even eight deep.

That's why she filled up her shopping cart to overflowing. Revolutions are best begun with strength in numbers.

"We wanted to build a roster that allows us to have more depth in the circle, allows us more versatility, gets us more athletic and adds more speed to the roster. Those were our immediate needs if we're going to play a different brand of softball than we've played before," she said.

"That meant bringing in players who can play multiple positions, players who can steal bases, who can go first to third, pitchers who hit, pitchers who throw different than pitchers we have right now so we're able to have a lot more options."

Montana hasn't had even a 20-player roster since 2018, hasn't had more than 21 on a team in program history. The times are changing before our eyes. Ewing expects to have a full team of 25 next year at this time.

"I think that was my specialty at San Marcos, finding kids who work really well in my system and developing them so they are really good at the college level," she said. "Kids who are athletic, maybe overlooked, but in my eyes kids we want, kids who are going to be able to do really good things for us.

"In college softball, you're an injury or two away from really being in a tough spot. These are great kids who have a lot of versatility in what they can do. That's just going to give us depth across the roster."

The transformation of the Montana softball program is well under way. And just think: Ewing has been on the job less than five and a half months. She's only getting started. The same is true of the Grizzlies.

University of Montana Athletics

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