DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA sophomore
shortstop Natasha Watley holds the Bruin record
for stolen bases with 67.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Reporter
There’s something to be said about someone with
humility.
There’s more to be said about a person with an outspoken
personality.
And in the case of Natasha Watley, there’s even more to be
said about her ability to steal the attention.
Last season, in her 2000 First-team All-American freshman
campaign as a member of the UCLA softball team, Watley broke the
career mark for stolen bases. The UCLA shortstop stole 32 bases
during the season, including an NCAA Tournament-record four steals
in one game against Canisius on May 18 to tie Christie
Ambrosi’s all-time mark of 31.
This season, Watley has already surpassed her 2000 mark with 35
more steals ““ while being caught only four times ““ and
the Bruins still have 15 games to go, plus the playoffs.
You wouldn’t know about her record by asking Watley
though, as she is unaware of the specifics regarding her softball
prowess. Watley doesn’t concern herself with stats. She just
likes to go out there on the field, do her thing and lead by
example.
She’s always calm and confident, feasting on her great
athletic ability. This year she’s been able to become more
mentally resilient, able to forget her mistakes and approach each
at-bat with a clean slate.
Her quiet, almost business-like approach on the field would lead
you to think she’s the same way off the field. You
couldn’t be more wrong.
“When you get to know me, I guess I don’t
shaddup,” Watley said. “My roommates think that. They
say “˜You’re not quiet, you’re not shy, da da da
…’ But I’ve lived with them for two years
now.”
So it takes time to meet the loud part of Watley’s
persona, but how loud can it really be?
After all, when you first meet Watley, she is always polite and
has this sort-of nervous laughter which she uses to defuse any
uncomfortable situations.
But when you speak to sophomore second baseman Monique Mejia,
Watley’s roommate at UCLA for two years now, it’s easy
to understand that there’s more to Watley’s loud
behavior than meets the unfamiliar eye.
“That might be an understatement,” Mejia said.
“She’s so silly off-the-field and you don’t
really get that impression watching her play softball. She’s
very silly, just really loud and off-the-wall.”
Mejia sees Watley as a person who has the perfect balance on and
off the field. It was a pleasant surprise when Mejia discovered
what kind of roommate she was paired with.
They have the type of chemistry that only roommates can have.
Whenever they are paired on the field, they can come home and not
only discuss the game on a serious note, but also in a joking
manner.
“I think Natasha and I have a real special relationship,
just because we’re roommates and have been for the past two
years,” Mejia said. “It’s pretty comfortable to
be out there on the field and we seem to really enjoy
it.”
Watley is blessed with a physical ability that is easy to
comprehend when you look at her genes. Two cousins from her
father’s side played professional basketball. Willis Reed is
a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame while Orlando Woolridge was
a star while in the NBA.
But Watley never fell in love with basketball, preferring to
hold a bat in her hand and get her inspiration from Major League
Baseball.
Watley has grown up an Atlanta Braves fan, following players
like Otis Nixon, Fred McGriff and Dave Justice. She used to model
herself after Kenny Lofton, briefly with the Braves in the
’90s. But with the recent emergence of shortstop Rafael
Furcal with the Braves, Furcal provides the better analogy in terms
of talent.
Both Watley and Furcal are in their second season. Neither
displays tremendous power (Watley has three career home runs, two
this season) they both play top-notch defense and their most
obvious shared asset is the speed factor.
While at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, Watley knew that she
was going to be recruited for her speed and athletic ability. Odd
that she would choose UCLA over another elite Pac-10 school like
Arizona, which is better known for nurturing Watley-caliber
players.
After all, before Ambrosi’s 25-steal explosion in 1999,
not a single Bruin had more than 30 steals in her career. Now UCLA
has four, if you include junior Amanda Freed (36 steals) and senior
Lupe Brambila (37).
“I just wanted to make things different,” Watley
said. “At (Arizona), most of their players are my style, and
why not make a change at UCLA.”
There is no exact reference point with which to measure
Watley’s speed. She never ran track in high school and not
being a numbers person, Watley has never bothered to find out.
But when she hits a grounder to the left side of the infield,
and then uses her long strides to reach first base without the
opposing shortstop or third baseman even attempting a throw, it
leaves you in nothing short of awe.
“To have speed just makes our team more dangerous,”
junior catcher/third baseman Stacey Nuveman said. “We have
the long ball, we have RBI-type people and we have people that get
it done on the bases. Natasha is a perfect example of that.
She’s a threat every time she comes up at bat.”
Whenever capable of getting on first, Watley always has the
ability to move into scoring position with her patented head-first
slide to second. But this year she’s been working more on
being able to reach second the more conventional way.
“I worked on hitting way before coming to UCLA,”
Watley said, “then in our fall pre-season this year all I did
was hit. I didn’t slap at all. And although I’ve always
tried to incorporate it into my game, it’s only now really
working.”
Now when the opponents play her on defense, she can hit the ball
by them. If they play her back, she can still lay down the
bunt.
The opponents’ indecisiveness on how to approach Watley
has helped her more than double the 11 RBIs she had in 2000. Coming
into this weekends’ pair of Pac-10 home games versus
Washington, Watley already has 29 RBIs.
Her offensive gifts aside, the coaching staff also has great
confidence in Watley’s ability to play defense. She is the
only regular to start every game at the same position, unchallenged
at shortstop because her great athletic ability makes her a
terrific all-around defensive player. Watley has great range, a
strong arm and soft hands ““ basically everything a shortstop
requires.
“Watley has more range than any player that we’ve
ever had in the history of this program,” UCLA Head Coach Sue
Enquist said. “She has a compliment of great speed, she has
the short game and she can swing away.
“She will go down as one of the versatile athletes
we’ve ever had and has a bright future at UCLA and the
national squad,” she added.
All of the accolades haven’t changed Watley though. She
still loves her dancing and her music.
Mejia is painfully aware of how much Watley loves her music.
Whenever she drives her car, Watley can’t resist turning
the volume up. Mejia is quick to point out that the speakers in the
car are most likely shot, using as exhibit “A” the
buzzing sound that persists throughout the song when the bass
hits.
But she can’t ever tell by the expression on
Watley’s face. The UCLA shortstop will start dancing in her
seat and beating on the steering wheel, while everyone else is in
total agony because of the sound that the speakers make.
“She loves to dance. She’ll dance to
anything,” Mejia said. “You can bounce a ball and
she’ll find a rhythm in something, or a beat in something and
she’ll just go crazy with it.”
Another of those little details you’d never find out until
you get to know Watley.