‘You just make it work:’ Arizona softball hitting coach juggles new job, growing family

Gibson Whorton was named Arizona softball’s hitting coach on July 7. Exactly two months later, she had her second child.

Caitlin Lowe gave birth to her two children, Harper and Beckham, when she was an assistant under Mike Candrea.

“The coolest thing has been, in my experience, working for someone that understands,” said Lowe, who succeeded Candrea as head coach in 2021. “Coach Candrea prioritizing my family just as much as softball was really important for me.

“I traveled with Harper when she was a baby the entire first year of my coaching career. She came with me on all the road trips. My parents would meet me ... and I would hand her off. You just make it work.”

Gibson Whorton is in the making-it-work phase of her life and coaching career. Daughter Maeve arrived Sept. 7. Older brother Whitley turns 2 on Nov. 4.

Gibson Whorton took all of a week off before returning to work after Maeve’s birth. She credits her husband, Mallie, for helping her achieve some semblance of a work-life balance.

“I feel like I hit the jackpot with him,” Gibson Whorton said. “He's just so supportive. ‘Just go. Go do it. Go fulfill your dreams.’ He’s put his career on hold. So if I didn't want to do it for myself, I want to do it for him because he has just sacrificed a lot for me. He's why I do what I do.”

Gibson Whorton, who most recently was the hitting coach at Cal, was upfront about her pregnancy while interviewing for the UA job. She told Lowe immediately.

“When she texted me about getting on a call for the job, I said, ‘I just want to let you know I have a baby due in September. I don't want that to scare you or anything. I'm very ambitious, but I just want to be upfront.’

“She said, ‘Let's go. Let's do it.’ ”

Lowe already was anticipating having a new mother on staff. Gibson Whorton’s predecessor, Amber Freeman, was pregnant when she joined the Texas staff. Freeman gave birth to a boy, Lloyd, on Sept. 21.

And, of course, Lowe had been there and done that herself.

“Cait has been an amazing boss and an amazing mentor,” Gibson Whorton said. “Her kids are 22 months apart also, so she gets it.”

Lowe has given Gibson Whorton the flexibility to spend less time in the office after the team’s morning practices. The former Arkansas slugger and Razorbacks assistant — who actually started her college playing career at Arizona State — found time for a brief sit-down with the Star earlier this week.

Besides being a mom, topics included her desire to become a Wildcat, the benefits of the desert and her coaching philosophy. Portions of that conversation can be found below. It has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

You always admired the UA program but weren’t recruited to play here. How does it feel to finally be a Wildcat?

A: “It kind of feels a little nostalgic almost. I grew up watching this program, watching the red, white and blue and the ‘Block A.’ To be able to be here, I feel like I’m fulfilling a dream — even though I’m not playing — that I had as a kid. I have such great appreciation for the people who came before me here, coach-wise, player-wise. I just want to continue that legacy.”

Were you frustrated about not being recruited by Arizona?

A: “At the time, not really, because I was so young. It was the early recruiting. I was committed to ASU when I was like 14 years old. It was between Oklahoma, Alabama, ASU and a couple others. I wanted to be a little bit closer to home (Gibson Whorton is from Murrieta, California), so ASU was great.

“It's funny. When Cait called me for the job, my mom was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Arizona!’ We definitely were fans of the U of A growing up and their softball program for sure.”

You played at ASU for one season, 2018. Why did you decide to transfer?

A: “Just culture things. ... I loved playing my freshman year. I played a lot. Went to the World Series. But I wasn't fulfilled personally. I wanted to make sure I had relationships that would last a lifetime coming out of college, so I wanted to make sure that I went somewhere that I could have both.

“At the time, Arkansas wasn't even really on the map; they had just went to their first Super Regional. I saw a program (where) the coaches valued the players. The coaches valued the relationship with the players and also wanted to win. ... So I got the best of both worlds with that.”

Besides being an admirer of the UA program, was there anything else about this opportunity that appealed to you?

A: “Being the hitting coach, you want to go coach in the desert. The ball flies. I'm not gonna lie. The first thing I thought was, ‘It's a hitter's park.’

“(With) the level of athlete here ... I'm not having to spend time offensively worried about some of the small things. We can dive right into more of the complex details, more of the game-planning that I value. ... These kids feel like pros offensively.”

How would you summarize your philosophy or approach as a hitting coach?

A: “That I don't have one. I think that it's really important to play the game and to coach the game the way that the players move and feel their best. ... At the end of the day, the players are going to do it how their bodies work. Coaching them individually to then get the collective result of runs and scoring runs is my philosophy.

“It's a little bit more work for me on the front (end) of just learning everybody and coaching them individually. But I feel that that is where I get the most reward and the most out of our players — getting them to compete the way that they are their best.

“Not everybody's the same, so I don't want to coach them the same way. I might talk to them similarly because that's how I operate. But they're gonna have different cues. They're gonna have different swings. They're gonna have different setups and timing mechanisms. It's my responsibility to know all those for them.”

You were a left-handed power hitter. Left-handed hitters are often steered toward slapping in softball. Were you just too strong to slap?

A: “No. I wish I had more strength. I had some injuries growing up, so I didn't run the fastest. When I got to college is when I fully stopped slapping. At ASU, Coach (Trisha) Ford was like, ‘You're just gonna hit away.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ She's like, ‘You're strong enough. You'll be fine.’ I think that was when I really realized I could be a power hitter.”

As you know, having hit 60 home runs in college, when you hit the ball over the fence, you don’t have to run as hard.

A: “That's true. I tell our players that all the time. ‘Don't you just want to jog? Jogging saves your energy.’ ”

What are your expectations for the lineup next season?

A: “I have big goals for our lineup. I want to make sure that we are prioritizing the right things, which is getting on base and scoring runs, obviously. Right now we’ve broken it down to 60 feet. Our fall motto is, ‘Find ways to get 60 feet.’ I want to be the best in our conference, the best in the country, in getting as many total bases as we can and leading the league in that aspect. They know that that’s a priority.

“Whether it’s a hit-by-pitch, a home run, an error, anything. (Even) if it’s not pretty, if it’s 60 feet, then it helps the team. I know that they’re starting to value that, and I’m excited to see that. I think we’re gonna put a lot of runners on base, put a lot of pressure on teams and hit the long ball for sure.”