Bonnie Tholl Looks to the Past to Fuel Michigan’s Future

Photos courtesy of Michigan

Bonnie Tholl reached back in time to prepare her first Michigan team for the future.

Following a humbling 26-25 season that saw the Wolverines lose seven of their final nine games, including a 3-2 loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament, Tholl delved into the program’s history three decades earlier.

The Wolverines finished 34-26 in 1994 and did not make the NCAA postseason tournament. That disappointment fueled the next group into national prestige. Michigan won at least 50 games in each of the next five seasons and made four straight Women’s College World Series trips from 1995-98.

“The day the season ended, the moment we were not part of the postseason, I explained to them what the years 1994 and 1995 looked like,” said Tholl in an exclusive interview with Extra Inning Softball. “In 1994 we didn’t make the tournament. We didn’t achieve what we hoped to.

“In 1995, we had returning players and newcomers that had a vision. And we kept that vision and that process to get to Oklahoma City. We went four years in a row. We went 10 times out of the next 15 seasons or something crazy like that.”

Tholl does not need a crazy vision to turn a 26-win team into a national contender once again.

“I challenged the team to come every day to win the Big Ten, to have that OKC mindset,” she said. “Like 94 and 95, if you can conceive it, you can believe it.”

The 26 wins were the lowest for the program since 29 wins in 1990. In her 30th year with the Michigan program, the 2023 season was her first as the Wolverines’ head coach replacing the retiring Carol Hutchins, the NCAA’s career wins leader at 1,707 victories.

“The first year was filled with a lot of newness even though I was in the program a long time,” said Tholl. “The first few months we had a couple of curveballs in terms of our health but we are on more solid ground now. We have experience in the lineup. Everybody on the roster that did not graduate is back, which gives us some consistency and helps gain ground.”

The Wolverines finished 10-13 in Big Ten games and were 1-10 against top-20 ranked programs.

“It wasn’t one specific area, it was all areas,” explained Tholl of her assessment of the 2023 program. “We need to be more productive offensively. We need more extra-base hits, better batting averages and better on-base percentage. That was lacking.

“And beefing up our pitching staff and getting more productive outings from all of our pitchers.”

The offense, led by graduate student Lexi Blair, averaged four runs per game over the 51-game season and nearly matched that in Big Ten play at 3.9 runs per game. Remove the 10-1 win at Nebraska and 15-0 win over Northwestern and that Big Ten run production dropped to 3.1 runs per game.

Blair was the only Wolverine to hit above .300 at .353 with 48 hits, 14 doubles and 27 runs batted in – all team highs.

“She was an exciting, dynamic player that we will miss in the lineup both offensively and defensively,” said Tholl.

Freshman Erin Hoehn can address both the offensive struggles and pitching depth issues. The power pitcher went 20-0 with a 0.29 earned run average and 305 strikeouts over 143.2 innings her senior year at North Posey High School and led the Vikings to the Class 2A state championship.

“When people come into college there is a learning curve but it’s not going to be too steep for her because of her high softball IQ,” said Tholl. “She knows how to compete and she understands how to be a hitter at the plate.”

Tholl envision Hoehn as a terrific compliment to junior right-hander Lauren Derkowski (18-14, 2.08 ERA) and a contributor offensively from first base or the designated player role.

Derkowski elevated to the top of the pitching staff in 2023, earning 30 starts and collecting 223 strikeouts over 201.2 innings.

“We threw her into the fire and her competitiveness certainly shined,” said Tholl.

The experience of senior Jessica LeBeau (8-11, 3.48 ERA) could be the key to success of the pitching staff, according to the second year head coach.

Michigan had just one power bat in the lineup in 2023 – junior catcher/first baseman Keke Tholl, the head coach’s niece, who had 11 home runs and 48 RBI. No other Wolverine had more than three home runs.

Tholl looks at her 2024 roster and sees a need for outfielders which opens opportunities freshmen Jessica Conway, ranked as the No. 17 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball (EIS), and Ella Stephenson, ranked as the No. 19 recruit by EIS.

“Conway is a pure athlete,” said Tholl. “She will be fun to watch on the basepaths. She is not a short-game specialist.”

Stephenson brings more power to the program and will benefit from the strength and conditioning program at Michigan.

“We are working on her strength,” said Tholl.”She already has pop in her bat for her stature. She is a tall kid. When she gets stronger, the ball will fly off her bat.”

Tholl found her way to Ann Arbor, Mich., after being recruited by Hutchins as a teenager from Tinley Park, Ill. Her high school career came at a relatively new school with no real traditions. Michigan offered the complete opposite experience.

“What attracted me to Michigan was the rich tradition, the big family and the big atmosphere,” she recalled. “My family was always Michigan or Notre Dame, but it was always a Michigan family for some reason. Coach Hutch recruited me and I fell in love with the campus.”

Tholl became an All-American shortstop at Michigan and already knew she wanted to be a college coach.

“At 17, a lot of people dream of being a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher or to work in the business industry. I always was set on being a college coach, even in high school,” she said. “It’s the game I love.”

Upon her graduation from Michigan in 1991, Tholl headed to Bloomington to work on her master’s degree in athletic administration at Indiana University.

“I got my feet wet coaching at IU,” she said. “It was a great experience.”

Tholl returned to Michigan in that memorable 1994 season and never left despite garnering interest from other college softball programs.

“Early on in my tenure there were other opportunities to become a head coach at other places but it was not quite what I was looking for at the time,” said Tholl, who was an assistant coach for nine seasons before being elevated to associate head coach. “The influence and the decision-making ability … I already had that at Michigan.”

Hutchins ended her Hall of Fame career in 2022 after 39 seasons as a head coach. She led the Wolverines to 22 Big Ten Conference championships, 10 Big Ten Tournament titles and 12 Women’s College World Series appearances.

Tholl was the obvious choice to become the fourth head coach of the softball program but she never took it for granted.

“There was discussion through the years,” said Tholl. “I was made associate head coach and there were discussions not just with Hutchings, but with others in the athletic department.

“I felt like I was interviewing every single day. I was not lobbying to be the head coach. I interviewed every day once I returned to campus. I felt like I was putting myself into a position to lead.”

On Aug. 24, 2022, Michigan celebrated the retirement of Hutchins and the elevation of Tholl to head coach.

“Obviously it was emotional,” recalled Tholl. “But it was joy, and I felt the responsibility of leading this program. That responsibility went from coach Hutchins to me. I’m still embracing the responsibility.”

While officially retired, Hutchins still serves in an advisory role for the athletic department and she makes it a point to visit the stadium that now bears her name to offer advice when needed.

Make no mistake, though, the Wolverines program is now Tholl’s to guide and she does so with the help of associate head coach Jennifer Brundage, now in her 26th season with the program, and assistant coaches and former players Amanda Chidester and Faith Canfield.

Michigan will wrap up its fall season with a doubleheader on Oct. 8 against Concordia and an Oct. 13 contest with Bowling Green. Then the program will dig into the memories of losing seven of their final nine games last season.

“We had great expectations but I had to remember this was a different team from the year before,” said Tholl. “I want to get the best out of the people in the program. In some areas, we fell short. We hope for a consistent return to being stronger and more committed to the process.”

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