Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of
Veteran Tarrant guiding young Grizzlies into season ahead
2/5/2026 5:04:00 PM | Softball
The season's first pitch is just a few hours away now.
Right around 4:30 p.m. in La Jolla, Montana, playing as the home team against Saint Louis in the Grizzlies' season opener, will take the field and junior catcher Madison Tarrant will settle in to accept some warm-up pitches before the umpire says, let's play some ball, shall we?
And the 2026 season – the 12th in program history, the team's second under coach Stef Ewing – will officially be under way.
When she looks out at the field from her squatted position behind home plate, Tarrant, already with 91 career games played and 70 starts, will see a pitcher making her Division I debut, an infield that is all underclassmen, an outfield that is entirely underclassmen. And they'll all be looking her direction.
All that youth is going to need a nucleus, something to center on, something that holds the whole thing together. That the team's on-field veteran resides at catcher, the symbolic conductor of the orchestra, the maestro who wields a glove instead of a baton, couldn't be more beneficial for this Montana team.
"She's the quarterback," said Ewing of Tarrant's on-field presence. "She's the emotional leader. Energy-giver is the best way to describe her. Constant good energy, constant good leadership, understanding when people need a minute, when to call timeout."
She started more than three-quarters of Montana's games last season, doing some heavy lifting for a staff that had an ERA of 7.88, that allowed opposing batters to hit .362. But her personality was custom-made for this team of her junior season.
Fifteen of the team's 24 players are newcomers, 13 of those are freshmen. Since practices opened in the fall, they've been looking for a guiding light, someone who doesn't have Coach in front of their name to shepherd them through the challenges of joining a new program or going off to college for the first time.
"It's been fun," said Tarrant. "I have a very extroverted personality, so it's easy for me to converse with the freshmen. I feel like I get to step into my element while also teaching them how to step into their own element.
"I love catching and I love being a leader. It's a different ball game when you step on a collegiate field. Having the opportunity to help them adapt and play in a Division I softball game is really cool."
Tarrant can work the full leadership spectrum, the ultimate hype woman when things are going your way while also being the player who knows exactly what you need when you break in on that ball to the outfield and watch it go over your head and roll to the fence, misplayed for a stand-up triple.
(Speaking from experience, not that any of Montana's players would make such a play.)
It's at that moment that she knows you need her more than ever, that the team needs her to settle things. It happened, we're going to deal with it and we're going to get through it. It's the sense of calm and continued confidence that the best catchers can provide to their team.
"If things like that happen, I'm big on resetting the tone, making sure people are finding their middle ground instead of being so high or so low," said Tarrant. "I really try to play to my strengths and I think one of those is communicating and getting everyone settled down and good to go."
Everyone would love if she was on the field for every game this season, every inning, every pitch – she's just that valuable – but it's the fifth day of February and the back part of the season, when the Grizzlies want to be at their best, is a long way off.
They'll keep the end game in sight, getting everything they can out of Tarrant while also doing what they need to do to keep her feeling fresh, to keep her healthy.
She's been conditioned to play, to value dedication, to fight through the fatigue, to shake off the bumps, the bruises, the wear and tear that comes with squatting her body weight dozens and dozens and dozens of times per game, then jack-in-a-boxing to her feet to cover an overthrow.
She starts the season with a figurative book of matches in her pocket. The more she burns now, the fewer she'll have left in April, in early May. They need to be saved, cherished, struck judiciously, lest the whole thing go up in flames from overuse.
"As athletes, we're always told, your mind will give out before your body," she says. "For me, I'm pretty strong-minded, so I feel I could catch every game of a weekend and I'd be fine but realistically, that's not going to work in the long run. We play too many games. It's too long of a season."
Her head coach was a college catcher, so Ewing knows well what the position demands and what it requires in sacrifice: a practice spent in the outfield, perhaps another spot on the field where Tarrant can be locked in and engaged without getting beaten up.
"We get to work with a bunch of people who have our best interests in mind. Klare (Matthew), our athletic trainer, is an angel, the best person ever," said Tarrant. "She'll know when (you need a break) before you know.
"They'll be on the lookout for me, which makes my life nice. They want to make sure I'm healthy and capable through the whole season."
Montana's depth at the position, or those who will be called and relied upon at those times when Tarrant is told they are going to shut her down for a game, are both true freshmen, Kodi Allred (Fort Bridger, Wyo.) and Gracyn Graviette (Acampo, Calif.).
It takes Tarrant back to 2024, when Riley Stockton caught 30 games and took Tarrant, then a freshman, under her wing, got her prepared and to a spot where she could make nine starts at catcher herself.
"She was my guardian angel. She showed me the ropes, how to do everything, how to be successful in college. I'd be doing these freshmen a disservice if I didn't do the exact same thing," said Tarrant. "It's communicating as much as I can to them.
"I want them to have that freedom to come to me. They've asked the right questions and are trying to be the best softball players they can be. I feel like I can pour all the knowledge I've learned into them. I think they are in a great place."
But they can always be better, because there is going to come a time when the team needs one of the freshmen and there is a ball hit into the right-center gap and things are happening on the bases and everyone's ears are waiting for that all-important voice, the one that directs traffic, moves the pieces.
It needs to be delivered quickly, forcefully. It requires reading the game at a speed the freshmen never had to do in high school or travel ball. The game's outcome may depend on it, so, yeah, it's a pretty big deal. Milquetoast won't get it done.
"They have grown miles from where they were in the fall to where they are right now. We need them to grow another mile," said Ewing of her freshmen catchers.
"Madi has done a really good job mentoring them and showing them and letting them get their own feel for the game. They don't have to be Madi, but in that moment, they have to be able to take charge and have clear, concise, good communication and be able to make good decisions."
When she's behind the plate, Tarrant excels in the margins, in the space between ball and strike, setting up in such a way, then framing a pitch that might be 50-50 and getting the umpire to side with catcher over batter. A true dark art.
Even a decade ago, it wouldn't have been trackable or quantifiable, just something you had a sense she was doing. Technology now allows Ewing to give it actual numerical value.
"There is a stat we can pull up, pitches that were balls that she got called strikes," said Ewing. "Last year there were a ton. It's something that goes unnoticed. I told her, that's why pitchers love throwing to you, because they're confident you're going to get them some called strikes."
Imagine what that can mean this year, with Montana's remade staff, a group of pitchers who could cut last year's ERA in half. "I thought our staff last year did a good job," said Tarrant. "This year we have a little bit more of a drive, a you-can't-beat-me mentality on the mound."
That Montana will certainly score more than the three runs per game the Grizzlies did last season is only going to make things easier on everyone, especially the staff that Tarrant is catching.
"Our offense is going to provide a good buffer for our pitchers," she said. "It's hard to be a pitcher when you might be struggling a little bit and your team can't back you up. That's when it can start to crumble around you.
"This staff, being around them, they want to win. They have that internal drive, I want to be the one who has the ball. All of our pitchers have that mentality. We're just a hungrier team this year."
It's a lot to carry, the weight a catcher has to take onto the field, handling her pitcher, reading and reacting to everything that could happen on the field in any given situation, squatting and then sprinting up either base line to back up a play, picking up an entire team that has lost its mojo.
Despite it all, Tarrant plays with a lightness that defies her position. It radiates off her in spite of her being mummied in protective gear from head to feet.
She learned it's the only way she can play the game to the best of her ability, to slough off the expectations of others, the pressure of the moment, the eyes that might be on her.
"I probably didn't learn until last year that college softball is only as fun as you make it," Tarrant said. "I play better when I'm free and having fun and not feeling any pressure, when I'm not thinking about the outside factors. When you're a freshman, it's the only thing you're thinking about."
That, then, is her biggest challenge, one she is uniquely wired to handle, going all out to win while keeping it the game that it is. It's those who do that who have the best chance of winning, of walking that line, embracing it while not being burdened by it.
"Our camaraderie is really good. It's what makes us unique," said Tarrant. "It's hard enough to mesh when you're competing for the same spots, but there is not any of that on this team at all. Everyone is competitive and wants to play, but if you fall down, every girl on our roster is there to pick you up."
And with that, let's play some ball, shall we?
Right around 4:30 p.m. in La Jolla, Montana, playing as the home team against Saint Louis in the Grizzlies' season opener, will take the field and junior catcher Madison Tarrant will settle in to accept some warm-up pitches before the umpire says, let's play some ball, shall we?
And the 2026 season – the 12th in program history, the team's second under coach Stef Ewing – will officially be under way.
When she looks out at the field from her squatted position behind home plate, Tarrant, already with 91 career games played and 70 starts, will see a pitcher making her Division I debut, an infield that is all underclassmen, an outfield that is entirely underclassmen. And they'll all be looking her direction.
All that youth is going to need a nucleus, something to center on, something that holds the whole thing together. That the team's on-field veteran resides at catcher, the symbolic conductor of the orchestra, the maestro who wields a glove instead of a baton, couldn't be more beneficial for this Montana team.
"She's the quarterback," said Ewing of Tarrant's on-field presence. "She's the emotional leader. Energy-giver is the best way to describe her. Constant good energy, constant good leadership, understanding when people need a minute, when to call timeout."
She started more than three-quarters of Montana's games last season, doing some heavy lifting for a staff that had an ERA of 7.88, that allowed opposing batters to hit .362. But her personality was custom-made for this team of her junior season.
Fifteen of the team's 24 players are newcomers, 13 of those are freshmen. Since practices opened in the fall, they've been looking for a guiding light, someone who doesn't have Coach in front of their name to shepherd them through the challenges of joining a new program or going off to college for the first time.
"It's been fun," said Tarrant. "I have a very extroverted personality, so it's easy for me to converse with the freshmen. I feel like I get to step into my element while also teaching them how to step into their own element.
"I love catching and I love being a leader. It's a different ball game when you step on a collegiate field. Having the opportunity to help them adapt and play in a Division I softball game is really cool."
Tarrant can work the full leadership spectrum, the ultimate hype woman when things are going your way while also being the player who knows exactly what you need when you break in on that ball to the outfield and watch it go over your head and roll to the fence, misplayed for a stand-up triple.
(Speaking from experience, not that any of Montana's players would make such a play.)
It's at that moment that she knows you need her more than ever, that the team needs her to settle things. It happened, we're going to deal with it and we're going to get through it. It's the sense of calm and continued confidence that the best catchers can provide to their team.
"If things like that happen, I'm big on resetting the tone, making sure people are finding their middle ground instead of being so high or so low," said Tarrant. "I really try to play to my strengths and I think one of those is communicating and getting everyone settled down and good to go."
Everyone would love if she was on the field for every game this season, every inning, every pitch – she's just that valuable – but it's the fifth day of February and the back part of the season, when the Grizzlies want to be at their best, is a long way off.
They'll keep the end game in sight, getting everything they can out of Tarrant while also doing what they need to do to keep her feeling fresh, to keep her healthy.
She's been conditioned to play, to value dedication, to fight through the fatigue, to shake off the bumps, the bruises, the wear and tear that comes with squatting her body weight dozens and dozens and dozens of times per game, then jack-in-a-boxing to her feet to cover an overthrow.
She starts the season with a figurative book of matches in her pocket. The more she burns now, the fewer she'll have left in April, in early May. They need to be saved, cherished, struck judiciously, lest the whole thing go up in flames from overuse.
"As athletes, we're always told, your mind will give out before your body," she says. "For me, I'm pretty strong-minded, so I feel I could catch every game of a weekend and I'd be fine but realistically, that's not going to work in the long run. We play too many games. It's too long of a season."
Her head coach was a college catcher, so Ewing knows well what the position demands and what it requires in sacrifice: a practice spent in the outfield, perhaps another spot on the field where Tarrant can be locked in and engaged without getting beaten up.
"We get to work with a bunch of people who have our best interests in mind. Klare (Matthew), our athletic trainer, is an angel, the best person ever," said Tarrant. "She'll know when (you need a break) before you know.
"They'll be on the lookout for me, which makes my life nice. They want to make sure I'm healthy and capable through the whole season."
Montana's depth at the position, or those who will be called and relied upon at those times when Tarrant is told they are going to shut her down for a game, are both true freshmen, Kodi Allred (Fort Bridger, Wyo.) and Gracyn Graviette (Acampo, Calif.).
It takes Tarrant back to 2024, when Riley Stockton caught 30 games and took Tarrant, then a freshman, under her wing, got her prepared and to a spot where she could make nine starts at catcher herself.
"She was my guardian angel. She showed me the ropes, how to do everything, how to be successful in college. I'd be doing these freshmen a disservice if I didn't do the exact same thing," said Tarrant. "It's communicating as much as I can to them.
"I want them to have that freedom to come to me. They've asked the right questions and are trying to be the best softball players they can be. I feel like I can pour all the knowledge I've learned into them. I think they are in a great place."
But they can always be better, because there is going to come a time when the team needs one of the freshmen and there is a ball hit into the right-center gap and things are happening on the bases and everyone's ears are waiting for that all-important voice, the one that directs traffic, moves the pieces.
It needs to be delivered quickly, forcefully. It requires reading the game at a speed the freshmen never had to do in high school or travel ball. The game's outcome may depend on it, so, yeah, it's a pretty big deal. Milquetoast won't get it done.
"They have grown miles from where they were in the fall to where they are right now. We need them to grow another mile," said Ewing of her freshmen catchers.
"Madi has done a really good job mentoring them and showing them and letting them get their own feel for the game. They don't have to be Madi, but in that moment, they have to be able to take charge and have clear, concise, good communication and be able to make good decisions."
When she's behind the plate, Tarrant excels in the margins, in the space between ball and strike, setting up in such a way, then framing a pitch that might be 50-50 and getting the umpire to side with catcher over batter. A true dark art.
Even a decade ago, it wouldn't have been trackable or quantifiable, just something you had a sense she was doing. Technology now allows Ewing to give it actual numerical value.
"There is a stat we can pull up, pitches that were balls that she got called strikes," said Ewing. "Last year there were a ton. It's something that goes unnoticed. I told her, that's why pitchers love throwing to you, because they're confident you're going to get them some called strikes."
Imagine what that can mean this year, with Montana's remade staff, a group of pitchers who could cut last year's ERA in half. "I thought our staff last year did a good job," said Tarrant. "This year we have a little bit more of a drive, a you-can't-beat-me mentality on the mound."
That Montana will certainly score more than the three runs per game the Grizzlies did last season is only going to make things easier on everyone, especially the staff that Tarrant is catching.
"Our offense is going to provide a good buffer for our pitchers," she said. "It's hard to be a pitcher when you might be struggling a little bit and your team can't back you up. That's when it can start to crumble around you.
"This staff, being around them, they want to win. They have that internal drive, I want to be the one who has the ball. All of our pitchers have that mentality. We're just a hungrier team this year."
It's a lot to carry, the weight a catcher has to take onto the field, handling her pitcher, reading and reacting to everything that could happen on the field in any given situation, squatting and then sprinting up either base line to back up a play, picking up an entire team that has lost its mojo.
Despite it all, Tarrant plays with a lightness that defies her position. It radiates off her in spite of her being mummied in protective gear from head to feet.
She learned it's the only way she can play the game to the best of her ability, to slough off the expectations of others, the pressure of the moment, the eyes that might be on her.
"I probably didn't learn until last year that college softball is only as fun as you make it," Tarrant said. "I play better when I'm free and having fun and not feeling any pressure, when I'm not thinking about the outside factors. When you're a freshman, it's the only thing you're thinking about."
That, then, is her biggest challenge, one she is uniquely wired to handle, going all out to win while keeping it the game that it is. It's those who do that who have the best chance of winning, of walking that line, embracing it while not being burdened by it.
"Our camaraderie is really good. It's what makes us unique," said Tarrant. "It's hard enough to mesh when you're competing for the same spots, but there is not any of that on this team at all. Everyone is competitive and wants to play, but if you fall down, every girl on our roster is there to pick you up."
And with that, let's play some ball, shall we?
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