DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Sophomore shortstop
Natasha Watley makes a play at second base during
the Bruins’ win over Alabama in the NCAA Championships last season
in Oklahoma. SOFTBALL PREVIEW vs.
SOFTBALL Today 1p.m. Easton Field
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
The line between reality and fiction will be blurred when the
UCLA softball team steps onto Easton Stadium today.
The Bruins will take one of their final steps in preparation for
next week’s season opener with an exhibition game against Cal
State Fullerton. The scrimmage, which is scheduled today for a 1
p.m. start, is a perfect opportunity for the Bruins to pretend
they’re in a regular season game. The plan is to use the
game-like atmosphere to increase the intensity while simulating
pre-game pressure and anticipation.
“(Exhibition games are) different because it’s going
to be more of a practice-mode than a game-mode, so it’s going
to be hard to kick it up and treat it like a game,” said
sophomore shortstop Natasha Watley, who as a freshman stole a UCLA
record 32 bases. “But we’re still going to come out
there and do what we have to do.”
The talented Bruin squad, who won the 1999 NCAA Championship and
lost in the title game last season, is so deep that only a limited
number of positions have been determined.
UCLA head coach Sue Enquist plans on using the exhibition game
to rotate players at a couple of positions. At second base, juniors
Crissy Buck and Casey Hiraiwa, plus sophomore Monique Mejia, should
see some action today.
Behind the plate is another place where the team needs some
clarity. The Bruins have three top notch catchers in junior and
2000 Olympian Stacey Nuveman, plus sophomores Tairia Mims and Toria
Auelua. According to Enquist all three are such strong offensive
players that no matter which one starts at catcher, the other two
will find their way onto the field whether it be at first base,
third base or right field.
“We’re ready to get started and really identify the
areas that we’re weak on,” Enquist said. “We have
a nice mixture of youth and experience and (the scrimmage) is
really just an opportunity for them to start playing together and
get used to one another.”
One place the team doesn’t have a weak area is their
pitching. The Bruins have two aces in junior Amanda Freed and
senior Courtney Dale. Freed will start the exhibition with Dale
playing out in right field so that she can get a better read on the
ball and work on her positioning.
Freshman hurler Keira Goerl will come to relieve Freed in the
middle of the game and if the scrimmage goes from seven to nine
innings, then either senior Stephanie Swenson or freshman Marcel
Torres will come into the game.
The opportunity to try out a lot of different player
combinations and see what works out best in a simulated game
environment should be useful for the both the Bruins and
Titans.
Michelle Gromacki, Fullerton’s head coach, will take the
same approach as UCLA and use the exhibition game as preparation
for the start of the season.
“I want to get accomplished what I do every day in
practice, which is to minimize errors and emphasize work
ethic,” Gromacki said.