Heads Up On Softball Season 

By: Jordan Beaudoin I Published: February 21, 2025

Kean University is gearing up and getting ready for the spring season. That means one thing: the official return of spring sports. 

It’s the time of year when football and basketball season are officially over and transition into baseball and softball season. The college gets excited to see each one of these teams play. 

The softball team has spent a lot of time during their off-season training and getting ready to make the new season’s debut on February 25 when they play Muhlenberg College. 

The women’s softball team is led by Head Coach Margie Acker, who has been coaching at the college for 26 years. Prior to Kean, she was an assistant coach at Rider University from 1997-98 and an assistant coach at Muhlenberg College from 1998-99. Ever since then, she has been the head of the softball program at Kean University. Alone, the softball team has 596 career victories under her head coaching. 

 Coach Acker and the team have a lot to look forward to for the coming season.

Last season ended on a decent note for them. The team played well and they took it a little further than usual. 

Coach Acker commented on how last season came to a close. 

“Last season we had a great season. I mean, we had some great upperclassmen who led us.  We got pretty far in the conference tournament,” Acker said. 

The softball team played their hearts out but did not succeed in a championship win. Still, they got some valuable wins instead. 

“We had some big wins at the end of the season. I mean, it’s always a little disappointing when you don’t get far into the tournament. So, it means the younger kids return a little bit hungrier and then into this season,” Acker said. 

Since the offseason came to an end in December, they have been doing a lot of spring training and have been getting themselves in shape since the beginning of January. 

Their schedule consists of 6 a.m. workouts every other day with the football team and two-hour practices almost every other day when they are not in the weight room. 

The team has not had much time outside for practices due to the weather, but they have been having a ton of indoor practices. They have worked on catching live balls, hitting, and a little bit of pitching and catching. 

They have several seniors this year, and they have a handful of brand-new freshmen who are getting ready to make their debut in the new season. 

Acker feels that at the end of last season, her girls are ready to get back on the field and play again. 

“We have a lot of pressure this year. So I’m kind of excited to get them out on the fields and playing together. The freshmen, they don’t know any better, so, you know, they just go out there and play the game. They don’t know what the other teams that we’re playing,” Acker said. 

She knows that the freshman will be able to pull through without a problem. 

 “…They don’t stress about different competitions. I’m just looking forward to getting out on the field consistently and seeing you know how they do. what they could do,” said Acker.

The team is working on finding their strong areas and weak areas and taking the time to work on a little bit of everything. 

“We have a couple of great freshmen, we have a lot of momentum, and we have some great hitters. Thompson was one of the best hitters in the conference and in the region last year and she is returning…It’s interesting because we would like to see them play together. Right now, we’re just doing, you know, different safe drills. We really can’t see because we aren’t able to see what they can do out in the fields,” Acker said. 

She also commented on other areas the team needs to work on. 

 “I think that we need to continue to emphasize communication, we are so young.  I think that’s really it. It’s really hard for me to tell. I think we need to work on more defensive sets, especially with our middle infielders,” said Acker.

Two of the team’s head captains out of the five that are on this year’s roster took the time to talk to us about their feelings on this coming season too. 

Andee Perseponko, a senior catcher, shared her feelings first. 

“Just getting to know the freshman better, like we already know them first pretty well, but I guess getting to know them better because we only give them for what, four months, or five months. We get to know them better and like chemistry,” Perseponko said. 

Maya Thompson, a junior first baseman, also commented on her feelings about the new season. 

“Yeah, I’m excited to see, like, on our first page on how everything goes,” Thompson said. 

Coach Acker has no doubt that this team will be in shape for this coming season before their first game. 

“Absolutely. I think they’ll be hungry to get on the field and play because by that point, we’ll have been in the gym for five weeks,” Acker said. 

The softball team should have no problems getting back into routine when they get out onto the field. Most of these girls have been playing the game since they were kids and know how to make this team operate the way it also should have. 

If they have gone pretty far before into championships, there is no doubt that they won’t be able to do it again.