Emory’s Cohen Stars as Two-Way Softball Phenom

In college softball, the two-way player is not the unicorn like it is in baseball (Shohei Ohtani). Some of the sport’s all-time greats—Jennie Finch, Lisa Fernandez—have been position players who also excelled on the mound, while NCAA softball rosters remain dotted with such versatile ballplayers.

Yet the trend, at least in recent years, has been for many amateur softball players to specialize in either pitching or hitting/fielding, rendering the two-way contributor more and more of an anomaly.

“It’s not as common anymore because of the time you have to put in to be really good in multiple areas,” noted Emory University softball head coach Adrianna Baggetta, who previously served on the coaching staff of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes softball team.

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“I think when they’re younger, a lot of people migrate them to one way or the other and a lot of coaches are very, very selfish in not allowing or wanting pitchers to get injured or maybe fatigued.”

Clearly, Baggetta is not of that mindset as one of her pitchers, southpaw Isabel Cohen, is coming off a freshman season in which she started nine games for the Eagles while also manning first base every time she wasn’t trying to flummox hitters with her crafty array of off-speed pitches. Although Cohen, a native of Weston, Fla., who was recently accepted into Emory’s Goizueta Business School where she intends to concentrate in finance and ISOM (Information Systems & Operations Management), was recruited exclusively as a pitcher by Baggetta after the veteran coach first saw her in action during a summer tournament in Rockville, S.C., she soon emerged as a reliable option for getting plugged into the everyday lineup for a freshman-laden Emory team (18-20) that flirted with .500 all spring.

“I’m very grateful that my coach at Emory has given me the opportunity to play as a position player, since it’s not super common to see pitchers playing other positions and hitting in college,” explained Cohen, who last summer played for Team Israel in a heritage tournament in Colorado and is anticipating to return this summer as a volunteer coach when she’s not working out with her former high school teammates, who are returning from their respective freshman seasons.

Cohen started playing softball when she was seven and, two years later, was making the rounds on the local club travel team. At the uber-competitive St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Cohen spent four seasons as a  pitcher and first baseman for the school’s varsity softball team, during which she garnered the Broward County Athletic Association Scholar Athlete Award. Still, the transition to playing Division III softball, while balancing a hefty course load at one of the country’s more rigorous academic institutions, one in which Baggetta made clear “we go by grades and test scores before we even start the recruiting process,” was a tall order.

Isabel Cohen was one of several freshmen on the Emory University softball team who helped the program stay competitive in the University Athletic Association this spring // Emory University Athletics

“The transition to college softball from high school was difficult,” acknowledged Cohen, a very accomplished young woman whose high school activities away from the diamond included serving as a teacher’s assistant at Temple Dor Dorim religious school and engaging in multiple community service projects, while also playing a little recreational soccer on the side.

“Even though I knew coming in that it would be much harder than any softball I had played, I really had no idea how hard it really is. At this level, growth requires sacrifices and really wanting to get better, no matter what. College softball is a grind, and it makes you appreciate the opportunity to play in college, but also makes you realize why it’s such an accomplishment to earn a spot in the lineup. The biggest adjustment for me has been understanding that everyone that plays sports in college works hard, so your definition of ‘hard work’ changes. However hard you think you’re working, you must work harder to be successful.”

Success on the ballfield can be measured in multiple ways—irrespective of the final numbers in the box score. That Cohen was available to hold down multiple positions in all 38 of Emory’s games this spring, whether she was battling an illness or late-season hand injury, made her a valuable asset to Baggetta’s squad, one that is poised to return eight of nine starters next season.

“Her willingness and ability to step in and play day-to-day was amazing,” raved Baggetta. “Her understanding of the game just grew throughout the year. I was very, very pleased with her ability to come out and just compete every day. No matter the highs or lows, you didn’t know if she was riding a high and maybe was 2-2 in a game or 0-3 with an error. That, to me, is a mature player.”

During an age in which it has become increasingly popular for many college athletes to transfer, Cohen appears to be nicely settled in at Emory, poised to build on a solid freshman season after weathering the dual in-season challenges of intensive academia and heightened softball competition.

“She is a big-time, die-hard Emory Eagle,” said Baggetta. “She has so much pride in being part of this program. You want to be around people that are that passionate about what they are doing.”