The Gates of Transition
Transfer fills two big holes admirably for the Rams
Evan Liu
The smell of cut grass, strewn sunflower seeds and crisp spring air are all sure signs of softball season. The pop of a metal bat rings around the intramural fields and Ram Field, piercing the sky and surrounding the concrete foundation of the newly renovated Ram Field.
New sights have been consistent for the Rams this season, but it hasn’t hampered them one bit. New face Molly Gates is part of the reason why.
The outfielder from Bremerton, Wash., has found life excellent in Northern Colorado. It’s not her first season in green, but the gold is a change, as is the CSU logo involved. Not only has she made an impact on the field, but off the field as she’s taken a leadership role within the team.
“I think I would see myself as a leader. I think everybody on the team is like a leader in their own way,” Gates said. “Some people are more vocal, lead by action and are good teammates. But yeah, I would say I see myself as a leader. Just through actions and my work ethic.”
She has been leading from the get-go. Her numbers do not lie on the stat sheet. Gates’ performance as the leadoff hitter has immediately set the Rams off on the right foot to start games.
From first pitch and beyond, getting your first runner on and scoring runs early is one key part of winning a softball game. Gates’ .400 average from the top of the order has been amassed on 40 hits this year.
While she gets it started in the first inning, she can shift to another gear as the game progresses in the batter’s box. She has 11 multi-hit games as a Ram and has gotten on base in all but four contests. She’s also responsible for 22 runs and has contributed 14 RBI as well.
“I think once we stepped out on that field for the first time in the fall, we kind of knew what we had when we first saw her play,” Ashley York said. “I think everyone was kind of almost like, hell yeah, like this is awesome. Like she can play and she's also just a fun person to be around.”
Offensively, Gates has been surging. Getting it done from the left side of the box, powering up her swings has given the Rams some pop – quite literally.
Gates is a more powerful, free-swinging player to start things off from the lineup compared to her predecessor. The one she’s filling in for, Ashley Michelena, left a big hole to fill as a four-year starter and offense ignitor.
It’s safe to say Gates has covered the hole left behind brilliantly. Despite the differences in playing style at the plate, Jen Fisher’s side hasn’t skipped a beat. They may have lost a big cog in the transmission of the team but filled it with a different cog which is as productive in her own way.
“When we talked to Molly about it, we said, there's a spot open. There are no guarantees, but there’s a spot open in the outfield and in that batting order,” Fisher said. “We told her, we think you fit the bill. You’ve got some good explosiveness, explosive power, and I wouldn’t equate this as a player. Now, I’m looking for that all time with recruits because of the results we’ve gotten.”
I just kind of took away things that I wanted to learn from them and things not to do, to just be the best player that I could become.Molly Gates
Their approach differs, as Michelena was more of a slap-hitter, trying to get on base to stir the pot. It couldn’t be seen any truer as she only had one home run in her college career along with 29 doubles and 17 triples.
As a left-handed batter herself, she had a .324 average with 211 career hits, accounting for 120 runs. Her slugging percentage of .425 and on-base percentage of .381 also allowed her to use her speed for 33 career stolen bases.
The two were very similar when it came to preparation and styles of play, especially in a physical sense. Michelena recorded a 27-inch vertical, which shocked everyone who hadn’t seen a softball player with such an effort. The same could be said about the newcomer filling in the gap.
“The first time we tested the first week of practice, everybody's jaw dropped when she did the vert,” Fisher said. “We've known her for five days and she steps up to that thing, and she just goes, whoop! And everybody's jaw dropped; she had instant respect.”
“Oh yeah, I think it was like 26-something,” Gates said. “But yeah, I was just trying to be myself and trying to push my teammates and just compete as best as I can with them to just push us all to the next level. And I think we all do a really good job at that. We're all competitors. It's a lot of fun to just go out there and just do the best that we can.”
It’s not like any of this success is new for Gates. The North Dakota State transfer found tons of success with the Bison, and it has only developed further with the Rams. Her career hitting statistics in Fargo consisted of a .275 batting average with 55 hits in exactly 200 at-bats, including 14 doubles.
She started in 60 of her 65 career games and became a solidified starter. Gates also accounted for 43 runs, 26 RBI, an on-base percentage of .351 and a slugging percentage of .390.
All over two years. In her half-year at CSU so far, she’s shattered some of her previous output at North Dakota State. Her talent started sprouting in Fargo but has only exponentially grown in just her short amount of time in Fort Collins.
“When I was there, I was obviously an underclassman, so I just think what I just took what I learned there,” Gates said. “I just kind of took away things that I wanted to learn from them and things not to do, to just be the best player that I could become.”
However, the benefits she brings to the diamond are plentiful and not simply just during an at-bat. Gates has also prowled around the outfield and left her mark there as well.
Her placement in the lineup has shifted Ashley York to center field – where Michelena called home -- continuing her outfield role just in a different spot.
For both, it has been a transition. But, for Gates in particular, having played left field growing up and in Fargo, it is simply just getting acclimated in Northern Colorado.
“Yeah, I definitely love it here,” Gates said. “Compared to where I came from at NDSU, I love it here and it also kind of like reminds me of Washington a little bit. Horsetooth, the scenery, stuff like that. It just feels more like home to me.
“I haven’t had any issues transitioning, everybody right away was so welcoming. Coach Fisher has been awesome just making sure I was comfortable. The whole CSU staff and athletics have just been a really big help to me. So yeah, it was pretty smooth, I would say.”
Again, Gates came into Fort Collins patching a hole Michelena left in the outfield just as she did as a leadoff hitter. The two are, once again, comparable on the defensive side of the game as well.
Michelena had a career fielding percentage of .971, only committing eight errors with 254 career putouts. Perhaps her most impressive record came in the shortened 2021 season where she had a perfect fielding percentage.
Meanwhile, Colorado State’s new No. 4 has a fielding percentage of .961 with 48 putouts and only two errors. Her time at North Dakota State was impressive as well in the field for two years, with 55 putouts and a .965 fielding percentage with only two errors.
And she and the outfield trio, which includes Hailey Smith, have fun while doing so.
“If you watch us in the outfield, we're pretty much dancing all the time or joking or something,” York said. “It's pretty cool like it's nothing I've ever experienced before. We get each other. We all kind of click and we understand each other especially, you know, through the lineup.
“It's not an easy sport. Sometimes you get pretty frustrated. It's always nice to have that person who can lighten the mood, and she's been a complete game changer and I'm so happy that she's here.”
Between her time at the plate and in the field, Gates has already had some memorable performances in green and gold. This past weekend against the preseason first overall ranked Boise State Broncos, she and the Rams split an abbreviated two-game set as the third game was canceled because of weather.
They had to earn their win against the Broncos, coming back in a resilient way in the top of the seventh inning to win a wild 13-11 game. Gates went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and a run in the victory.
Even in down performances such as the 13-2 loss the next day against the Broncos, she earned a walk along with one of the team's three hits. She was also a run on Peyton Allen’s first-inning home run.
“I think we went in there and just treated it like any other game, we didn't really care what the rankings were,” Gates said. “It was honestly just a mindset that we weren't going to lose. And I think that showed even in the seventh inning when we were down and they had the momentum, it didn't really matter.”
Should she and the rest of her teammates pull off performances as they did in game one against the Broncos, the Rams and their fans should be in for a treat. Gates leads the charge for Colorado State as it looks to win the conference title, the Mountain West Tournament and eye a place in the NCAA Tournament in May.
Their last visit to the big dance came pre-pandemic in 2019, a team Michelena helped spark. While Gates wasn’t around for their run, her performances and support from teammates there can only help their chances to continue filling the gap Michelena left behind.
“Yeah, I think anything is possible,” York said. “I think this team wants it and I think that we could really do it, and it's going to take a lot of work no doubt. I just think taking it one game at a time, one series at a time, and I think we're going to end up where we want to be at the end of it.”
Plus, they get the chance to do it on the new turf. This upcoming weekend will be the second series the Rams have at their new stadium against another highly regarded team, the UNLV Rebels. They were picked third in the preseason poll, just ahead of the Rams.
While it will be the second series of the stadium’s history, Gates has the opportunity of a lifetime to officially open the facility under the lights with a hit from the leadoff spot and get the Rams’ first-ever night game off to a blinding start on Saturday.
There may be pressure for some, but there is none in the tank to faze Gates one bit.
“I don't think there's any pressure, it makes me excited,” Gates said. “I know we're all excited to be on our new field, and just playing with each other. So yeah, all I feel is excitement for what the future holds for us as a team. I know we've been working really hard and so it's exciting to see what we can do in front of our home crowd.”