It’s the start of the new year and the spring semester on campus, and accompanying it is a fresh start to the Colordo State softball season.

Last year, CSU made its way to the 2024 Mountain West Softball Championship as the sixth seed but lost to No. 3 Nevada, cutting its postconference season short. But after 10 players graduated last season, the Rams are back with a new lineup, and several faces are making their first appearance in green and gold.

“This year, people aren’t going to expect us, so it’ll be more of our grit and our will to want to win. So we want to prove people wrong — that’s for sure.” –Brooke Bohlender, catcher and utility player

The Rams have 13 first-years on the roster, and only three are redshirt freshmen returning from last season. Each first-year adds something unique to the team, all gunning for the chance to prove themselves on the field.

CSU recruited several in-state players and picked up a handful of out-of-staters in this recent class. A notable recruit to the team is Kyra Smith, an infielder from Payallup, Washington. Smith was named to the Washington High School All-State Softball Team in 2023 and led her high school in career home runs.

“Kyra Smith is going to have a big impact, at least in our lineup,” senior Brooke Bohlender said. “Hittingwise, she did pretty well in the fall. We have good expectations for her.”

Another great addition to the roster is Clarissa Castillo, an outfielder from Rialto, California. She had a career batting average of .462 and 66 RBI in high school, according to MaxPreps.

“(Castillo is) really big (in) helping out fielding, really good arm, big bat as well,” Carolina Buffaloe said. “(We’re) really looking forward to how she grows and to see her success as well.”

Four seniors will be leading the team going into the season: infielder Morgan Crosby; catchers and utility players Bohlender and Buffaloe; and outfielder Morgan Coleman. The team doesn’t have many experienced players at the helm, but the ones it does have are some of the best players in the Mountain West. These seniors will have to lead the fresh collegiate players in order to go far in the season.

This new roster will be a breath of fresh air for the Rams, unlocking the team’s potential and paving the way for what they can achieve. CSU has been predicted to finish sixth in the Mountain West, according to the league’s nine head coaches, but CSU has a roster free from expectations, allowing it to become anything it wants to be.

“You just have to have the energy and the freshness of the thought process and the openness to learning,” coach Jen Fisher said. “They’re both great places to be as a coach, and they’re really fun for me. Last year, I was able to kind of sit back and hear them and (their) thoughts, and they were coaching each other up in a sense. And this year, there’s just a ton more of, ‘What do you think, coach? What do you think?’ And so there’s a lot of learning.”

The Rams play in five invitationals before they head into league play. CSU will face some tough teams this year, including Texas, Arizona and Stanford in the Hillenbrand Invitational scheduled for late February. The Rams won’t play in Fort Collins until Feb. 28 against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi.

“I think last year we were focused on personal performance and stats,” Bohlender said. “This year, people aren’t going to expect us, so it’ll be more of our grit and our will to want to win. So we want to prove people wrong — that’s for sure.”

Reach Alex Graser at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @AlexGraser5354.