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It had been a long time since I had made my last trek to Goodman Diamond. Apparently so long that I missed the memo that everyone knows about what’s going on with Wisconsin softball.

Call it a rebirth, call it an emerging powerhouse, call it whatever you want. But in the midst of the best season in program history, Sunday afternoon at Goodman Diamond, everyone and their friends turned out for Wisconsin Senior Day.

After serving as the softball beat writer two seasons prior, I had to make the difficult decision to give the post to a pair of upcoming young bucks in The Badger Herald sports ranks.

But, on this lucky day, one of the writers asked me if I could cover the Sunday doubleheader for him. All too happy to oblige, I set off on the familiar walk down the Lakeshore path. The weather was clear, the wind was blowing and the setting picturesque. And the parking lot outside Goodman Diamond was … packed?

Getting my first glimpses of the diamond revealed, well, something I had never seen before: Goodman Diamond was absolutely full to the point of bursting. Scratch that, it was overflowing. Extra bleachers had actually been brought in behind the outfield fences to house the excess fans.

Players noticed the extra bleachers when they first arrived to warm up, hours before the first spectators filled their seats.

“When we saw the bleachers in the outfield, us seniors were like, ‘We have never seen anything like this,'” senior utility player Whitney Massey said after the doubleheader.

Multiple news outlets were in attendance, with numerous cameras positioned behind home plate. The press box was a tight squeeze with extra UW personnel brought in to specifically handle the higher attendance. And luckily for me, the usual wonderful press box potluck luncheon was so full that the legs of the table supporting the magnificent spread looked to be shaking under the immense weight of food.

Finding my spot on a box next to my staff members, with Spencer Smith and beat writer/freshman all-star Dan Corcoran calling the game on the radio, I started to reminisce about the first senior day I had attended during my two years with the team, which wasn’t exactly well-attended.

That was back in the day when Wisconsin softball’s head coach Yvette Healy was in her first year at the helm of the program and in the midst of beginning to turn the program around with a 30-23 season. Someone in the Badgers’ dugout was thinking the same thing.

“It’s amazing to go from what we had a couple years ago and to seeing how full it was today,” senior infielder Shannel Blackshear said of the attendance. “It just shows how far the program has come.”

Snapping out of my daydream to present day, I spotted a notable face in the sold-out crowd, Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez. Working up my courage, I decided to sit down next to him and ask him a question. I know, you’re probably thinking, “Oh no, a student journalist bugging Barry as he’s trying to enjoy a game. Don’t do it, Nick!” No worries, I thought the same thing. If it was any other day, I would’ve left the living legend alone. Unfortunately for him, seeing as I only have two weeks left before I graduate, I decided to throw caution to the wind.

After shaking his hand and introducing myself I asked him what he thought of everything he was seeing. After all, Alvarez had been the one who hired Wisconsin head coach Yvette Healy just three years ago to resuscitate a Wisconsin softball program that was dead in the water.

“Well, I think it says volumes for what she’s done,” Alvarez said. “She’s put excitement into the program. I love the attitude of the kids and how hard they play and you can see they’re having fun. She’s upgraded the quality of play and I couldn’t be more impressed or more pleased with the job that she’s done.”

Then I said thank you. And ran away. With a senior bucket list item crossed off.

After I regained my composure, I realized the Wisconsin AD hit the nail right on the head. Covering Healy’s first two years at the program, it was hard not to notice every game how the Badgers were playing looser and more relaxed. Not only were they improving every game on the field, they legitimately seemed to enjoy playing. The next year the attitude was the same, but the wins came easier.

“We got that 30th win my freshman year and now my junior year we’re at 39 and have more games to play,” junior outfielder Mary Massei said. “It’s a great culture and atmosphere we’ve created for this team.”

Now, it looks like the team is going to make its first NCAA tournament since 2005. And maybe, just maybe, advance past the first round of the NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. And after playing in front of a Goodman Diamond record crowd of 2,007 fans, the Badgers won’t be able to say they haven’t been prepared for the pomp and circumstance the sport’s biggest stage has to offer.

“Today really had that NCAA tournament atmosphere and I think that’s so important for the team because this is a group who has a chance to keep playing into the postseason,” Healy said. “You have to get used to this type of environment. It’s thrilling, it’s exciting, but it’s still different.

“I think the more we can have things like this, the better it will make our team when there are other schools that see this every weekend. For us to get a glimpse of it, I think it makes them hungry to do more.”

It goes both ways, coach. Now that fans have seen a glimpse of your program, they’re going to stay interested. Just like I have since the first day I ever reported on your team.

Nick is a fifth-year senior and law school hopeful. Nick serves as the Sports Editor of The Badger Herald and a radio host on the WBA award-winning show “The Student Section” and “The Badger Herald Sports Hour” on 91.7 WSUM. Think Nick should have asked Barry more questions about UW softball? Email him at [email protected].