NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin UCLA’s Natasha
Watley tosses a ball during a scrimmage against Cal State
Fullerton last week.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
It might be easier for UCLA softball head coach Sue Enquist to
flip a coin when turning in her lineup card.
While some schools struggle to find enough talent to field a
softball team, the top-ranked Bruin roster is filled with players
capable of playing multiple positions on the field.
Those are the type of woes a program with nine national
championships has to endure.
“I think we have more depth and more versatility (than
last season),” Enquist said. “But I need to get more
knowledgeable regarding my personnel. I (need to find out) what are
my best rotations. I have a sense, but I want to see it
first-hand.”
Enquist will continue to rotate players defensively until the
best mixture becomes obvious.
UCLA’s pitching is a different story, with the team
regaining the services of senior Courtney Dale and retooling with
the addition of freshman Keira Goerl.
Last February Dale, who tied a UCLA record 33 victories as a
sophomore in 1999, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that
left the top spot in the rotation to current junior Amanda
Freed.
Current senior Stephanie Swenson elevated her level of play,
posting a 10-1 record and team-leading 0.81 ERA. But Freed was the
workhorse once the Bruins entered the playoffs, and pitched all
eight games en route to a runner-up finish in the NCAA
tournament.
Freed, who finished last season with a 28-8 record and 1.25 ERA
over 234 2/3 innings pitched, will now share the spotlight with
Dale and Goerl in what is easily considered to be one of the top
pitching rotations in the nation.
“We have way more depth in pitching,” said sophomore
shortstop Natasha Watley. “Last year it was just Amanda,
Amanda and Amanda. I feel way more comfortable in our team this
year. Hopefully it will turn out much better in the end.”
Watley is the only player destined to remain at one position
““ shortstop.
The rest of the team will keep moving from game to game until
Enquist feels the best combination of players are on the field.
The decision-making process might start at catcher, where
Enquist has three top-notch
candidates, including an Olympian from the 2000 games.
Junior Stacey Nuveman, who was part of the 1999 NCAA
championship Bruins, redshirted the 2000 season so she could be the
backstop for the gold medal Team USA in Sydney.
Nuveman’s character building Olympic campaign, in which
the Americans were facing elimination before winning their final
five games to prevail, forced her to evaluate where she was
mentally.
Now she feels ready to recapture NCAA glory as a Bruin.
“I hope to take that kind of knowledge and experience out
here, and not only share it with my teammates but use it to make me
a better player,” said Nuveman, who will be the team’s
regular catcher and also spend some time at third and first
base.
UCLA’s other two catchers, sophomores Toria Auelua and
Tairia Mims, will be playing third base and first base,
respectively, most of the time Nuveman is behind the plate.
Second base is a hotly contested spot, with sophomore Monique
Mejia battling juniors Casey Hiraiwa and Crissy Buck. According to
Enquist, these players will keep rotating until one of them
separates from the pack.
Mejia offers defense for the Bruins, while Hiraiwa is more
offensively oriented and Buck is more balanced.
The outfield will feature Freed at center field whenever she
isn’t pitching. Right field will feature a revolving door
that includes Auelua, Mims, senior Lupe Brambila and junior Erin
Rahn.
But once Dale’s shoulder has healed enough to allow her to
throw overhand, she’s the leading candidate to claim that
position when she’s not pitching.
Brambila and Rahn will also receive some playing time in left
field, along with freshman Stephanie Ramos who will be the center
fielder when Freed pitches.
Finally, freshman Claire Sua will act as the team’s
designated player (softball’s version of the designated
hitter) and also spend some time at first base.
“It’s really exciting knowing that we have such
depth on the mound and on the field,” Freed said. “So I
don’t think we’re going to be in such a tight situation
as we were last year. We have so many weapons and it’s just a
matter of where everybody goes.”
It will take a while for players to get into a rhythm, but in
due time the Bruins should learn what to expect from their
teammates and find themselves ready to contend for their tenth
national championship.
PROBABLE SOFTBALL STARTERS‘ Original graphic by
CONNIE WU/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Web adaptation by JUSTIN HONG
and TIM MIU