Player of the Week Ella DeCrescenzo ’27 Talks Complete Game, Teammate Milestones, and NESCAC Aspirations

Ella DeCrescenzo ’27 is a pitcher and outfielder from Brooklyn, N.Y., on the softball team. This past week, DeCrescenzo earned her career-first NESCAC Player of the Week award after a stunning performance against Colby and Williams. DeCrescenzo began with a complete game against the Mules with no walks, three strikeouts, and one unearned run, leading the Red and Black to a 5–1 win. DeCrescenzo then held Williams scoreless for her first career shutout. DeCrescenzo allowed just eight hits, one walk, and one strikeout in the 2–0 win.

This week, The Argus sat down with DeCrescenzo to talk about the team’s success, pitching preference, and postseason hopes.

The Argus: Tell us a little bit about how you first started playing softball.

Ella DeCrescenzo: I started playing softball in middle school. I played for my school team. 

A: Has pitching always been your place in softball?

ED: Yeah, I was always a pitcher. I was also a first baseman, but I switched that around over time. I played random positions, but I was always the pitcher. I only became an outfielder late in high school and into college, but I do love the fun of sprinting in the outfield and all the big plays. But I really love being in the game, every pitch, so that’s why I love being a pitcher. 

A: Is there a story behind picking the number 21?

ED: It’s my birthday, Sept. 21. I switch off to 27 because that’s my family’s lucky number. So it depended on which one [Wesleyan softball] had available. 27 would be my backup.

A: What made you commit to Wesleyan?

ED: I chose Wes because I really loved the community. I loved how small it was, so that I could get to know everybody. I also really liked how close it was to home. I’m only two and a half hours from home, so I can kind of go home whenever. I liked how close, especially the athletes, were to each other and how supportive they were.

A: If you had to pick one aspect, what’s your favorite part of being on the team?

ED: My favorite part of my team is how much we support each other. I seriously couldn’t do as well as I have been doing without my teammates. We really pick each other up. We’re also really close friends: We hang out besides just being on the field every day. I think it’s a really great group.

A: That said, what do you enjoy doing at the University outside of playing softball?

ED: I like how much I’m able to kind of explore what I want to do. I started off not really sure, and I was able to take as many classes as I wanted to figure that out, and I think I really took advantage of that over my three years so far. 

A: Do you have any superstitions pre-pitching? 

ED: Yeah, nothing crazy, just little things. My hair has to be done perfectly every time. I always do it in braids. Now I have to do a little makeup for the game. I’ll have a coffee that I don’t really drink, but nothing too crazy. 

A: Is there something you generally think about when you’re pitching and hitting? 

ED: As a pitcher, it’s very different. It’s really about knowing how in control you are. When you pitch, you have control of every single movement. So I think when I pitch, I really focus on a competitor mentality. I really focus on every single pitch being intentional. I try to be really positive even if there’s a hit. I’m like, I have the next one, I’ll figure it out. Whereas, with hitting, there isn’t really much thinking. I like going up there and not thinking about anything. I like trusting myself and leaving it at that.

A: This year, you’ve seen your Earned Run Average drop by nearly one run overall. What do you think were some of the biggest contributors to that?

ED: One of the biggest contributors is my team. My team plays really hard for me: They make crazy plays behind me. And I’ve worked a lot on being specific about keeping it off the plate and making sure all my pitches are spinning and breaking. The other pitchers and I have really worked hard on throwing at different heights and different levels. And not being afraid to walk a batter to avoid throwing it down the middle. 

A: How do you go about different batters? 

ED: Our coach will scout most batters. It depends on the team, but we go through most of the lineup. We say whether they’re a power hitter, a contact hitter, what they like, and what they don’t like, and we go from there. Usually, for conference games, we go through most of the lineup just so we know. 

A: What changes between being the first pitcher versus the second? 

ED: If you’re the second pitcher, you had that whole first game to kind of wait. So, the biggest thing that I work on that’s slightly different is if I know that I’m pitching second, I work hard to make sure I’m staying in the game: keeping the energy up until I get to the second game. I know it’s hard for everyone to keep the energy up and not get tired, especially when we have a whole second game. 

A: You earned NESCAC Player of the Week after a monster season. What does that mean to you?

ED: It means a lot. I’ve worked really hard to get here. My teammates have been super supportive. I also think we have a lot of potential this year to go far. So a lot of our teammates are having these huge accomplishments. Cat Palmer ’26 had 100 hits yesterday, and Molly Lennon ’26 beat the career home run record. So, we’re doing a lot of big things that really show how great we really are and showing other teams how serious we can be this season.

A: How does your off-season contribute to your success?

ED: Our team has worked really hard to be consistent, and that contributes to us doing well. I think our coach does a great job of preparing us, and we’ve even got conditioning with [Strength and Fitness Coach] Drew Black. We train a lot. We train in the fall, we train right before the season. I definitely think we prepare ourselves for this. 

A: Do you have a personal or team hope for the rest of the season?

ED: I want to win the NESCAC championship. That’s a big goal that everyone wants. I really think our team can do it, if we put our minds to it, and if we stay positive and we keep working as hard as we’re working and supporting each other, we could clinch that. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Leila Feldman can be reached at lfeldman01@wesleyan.edu.