Like father, like daughter: Brittany Ford continuing family's athletic legacy at Indiana
Brittany Ford's first at-bat of the softball season came when Indiana was one out from defeat, down five runs to Louisville in the bottom of the seventh of an early-season event in Boca Raton, Fla.
In previous seasons, Ford admittedly would have put too much weight on the moment, knowing it was her one chance in the game to make her case she belonged in the starting lineup. But the former Cathedral star decided long before this season started that her senior year would be different.
"I just felt relaxed because I'm realizing it's just a fun game to play," Ford said. "In years past, I way over analyzed everything and put so much pressure on myself. Being in high-pressure situations as a pinch-hitter, I didn't want to let my team down. This year, I didn't even think about it at all."
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So in her first at-bat of the season, the left-hander rocketed a solo home run over the right field wall. The Hoosiers still lost 9-5, but the next day she was in the starting lineup, and in her first at-bat that day, she hit a grand slam in an 11-1 win over Florida Atlantic.
Turning a corner this season
Those first two at-bats set the tone for a season in which Ford has exponentially surpassed the production of the first three years of her career. She's started in 45 of 47 games as IU's designated hitter, batting .305, ranking 10th in the Big Ten with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs and slugging .603. She has 40 hits in 131 at-bats this season.
Prior to this year, she started nine career games in three seasons and had 13 hits in 65 career at-bats, making her a career .200 hitter with one home run and 13 RBIs. This year, she's the every-day 3-hole hitter for an Indiana team carrying a 27-21 record into this week's Big Ten tournament.
Ford's drastic improvement comes in part from a rebuilt swing, but it also has its origins in a reframing of her mindset. She stopped pressing, and started thinking more about why she wanted to play at Indiana so badly in the first place.
"I realized what I was playing for, my why," Ford said. "I love this university. I have a lot of people around me who helped me get here, so I realized this is just a gift that I get to play."
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Growing up a Hoosier
Ford's love for IU goes far beyond her time in Bloomington as a student. She's part of a fourth generation of her family to attend Indiana with her two brothers also going to school there. Her father Joe played linebacker for the Hoosiers in the 1980s under Lee Corso, Sam Wyche and Bill Mallory. Brittany started attending IU games as an infant, strapped to her father's back on trips to Memorial Stadium.
Her IU indoctrination began immediately.
"Her mother would call it brain washing," Joe said. "I just say I led her to the light at an early age. I would have a rally cry at the end of the night. 'Last one upstairs is Purdue Pete. Her brothers would kill each other to get up the stairs. Brittany was the younger one. One time she got up to the top stairs and she'd plop down and she was crying. She said, 'Daddy, I don't want to be Purdue Pete.' I gave her my hand and said, 'Well I'm Indiana Joe. Take the last step with me and you'll never be Purdue Pete.'"
Brittany embraced every bit of it and was determined to play at IU like her dad.
"He's my role model, my best friend," Brittany said. "Looking up to someone like that and getting to see his pride for IU is why I fell in love with this university. I knew this was my dream school since Day 1, seeing the pride he had for IU. And I'm telling you, my whole family went here. My mom's side and my dad's side."
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Getting her foot in the door
She eventually determined softball gave her the best chance to get there, quitting basketball her sophomore year so she could focus on it. She was an effective pitcher, but more importantly, she had thunder in her bat from the time she could pick one up, drilling pitches over right fielder's heads.
Joe coached her briefly, but then got her on travel squads and tried to make sure she was at every camp or showcase where Indiana's coaching staff would be present.
Michelle Gardner was Indiana's coach and she was reticent about offering her a scholarship. She wasn't sure how quickly Ford would get playing time and wasn't sure what position she would play at the college level. But one of her assistants, Mike Perniciaro, pushed for her and Gardner offered Ford a scholarship after her sophomore year at Cathedral.
"The old coaches weren't looking my way and they didn't want me to play here," Ford said. "I just put my foot in the door and I didn't stop until they chose me. They finally offered my sophomore year summer and I told them I was accepting right away. (Gardner) told me 'You're a raw talent kid, but I don't know if you're going to see the field. You're going to have to work really hard.' But I would say, 'You know I will.'"
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Gardner resigned from the position in 2017 before Ford's senior year at Cathedral, but her replacement Shonda Stanton had recruited Ford when she was at Marshall. Ford never considered changing direction and Stanton was happy to have her on board.
Staying the course
Ford's power stood out to Stanton right away, but Ford suffered a shoulder injury early in her career. She didn't have Big Ten-quality stuff as a pitcher and she didn't have an obvious other position, so her only path to playing time was as a designated hitter or pinch hitter.
In her first three seasons, the Hoosiers had a veteran team and several players who would have been out of eligibility after 2020 but were granted an additional year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That included catcher Bella Norton, who frequently hit in the DH role so the Hoosiers could keep her bat in the lineup when she needed a break from catching.
"We've had a lot of competition for that spot," Stanton said. "When you get down to it, the DP spot, there's so many hitters trying to go for that when you have a roster size of 20-plus."
Ford's lack of at-bats would cause her stress and she felt like she let the team down in games where'd she'd bet one at-bat and fail to produce.
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Overhauling her game
Heading into her senior year, however, she decided she needed to think of the game differently. Stanton made sure she had role clarity at the beginning of the season, telling her that she would be a DH or a pinch-hitter, that should wouldn't be considered for a fielding position but that she had the opportunity to be the starting DH if she earned it.
"I would worry so much about getting that hit," Ford said. "This year, I told myself I'm not competing with anyone but myself. It's me vs. me this year. If I don't get the DH, it's because I did it to myself."
Ford spent the offseason making significant changes to her swing. She started by changing her stance, beginning with the bat on her shoulder before cocking it back. She also noticed that finishing her swing with a two-hand follow-through was causing her to pull the ball too often and was keeping her from getting to outside pitches, so she worked on finishing with a one-hand release.
"I can stay in the zone way longer," Ford said.
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Changing mindsets
Ford also decided she was going to take advantage of every single opportunity she could to make a contribution to the team, including to her own game. Each player had to pick a word before the season to define their season. Ford picked the word "Glory," from its context in the Indiana fight song. She would do everything "for the glory of old IU."
Though she doesn't play a position, Ford stands in at the plate to field throws when coaches are hitting infield. She catches bullpen sessions from relievers during games, something she said helps her get better reads on pitches and improve at the plate.
"She's a we-before-me type person," third baseman Grayson Radcliffe said. "She's so involved and engaged in what the team is doing. Seeing how she accepts her role and thrives in it really drives the rest of the team."
Hoosiers rely on Ford's power
Ford's approach paid off from the very beginning. Not only did she homer twice in her first two at-bats, she had seven hits and seven RBIs in her first 13 at-bats. She was hitting .419 as of March 19 when she finally started to cool off some, but she hasn't dipped below .300 all season and she's come up big in big moments.
Her bases clearing three-run double on May 1 gave the Hoosiers a walk-off 11th inning win over Illinois and her three-run home run against Nebraska in this past weekend's season opener gave the Hoosiers a lead in a game they'd trailed.
"She can change the game with one swing of the bat," Stanton said. "She's fun to watch. We call her B-clutch for a reason."
It took Ford a while to get the opportunity to be that clutch, but to Stanton, it speaks well for the senior that she hung in there long enough to find them.
"It's not necessarily the road that you're going down, it's how you lean into the turn," Stanton said. "I think she does an exceptional job of leaning into the turn."
Follow Herald-Times IU Insider Dustin Dopirak on Twitter at @DustinDopirak or email him at DDopirak@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU softball's Brittany Ford changes swing, mindset for senior season
