Western softball has taken the country by storm, but can Eastern teams thunder their way through the snowy clouds to become consistent competitors?
By Lauren Verrusio
Winter break is over, and February rolls onto the calendar. Preseason has begun. So has the freezing rain, the ice and the nasty blows of frigid lake-effect winds. The field that is set to host the opening day game is buried under five and a half feet of compacted snow. The gym has now become a practice field; old basketball lines map out the base paths as hoops stunt fly balls transforming the outfielders into “rebounders.” Pinch runners steal second, sliding past the base and across the waxed gym floor. Practice time ends abruptly at 5 p.m., even though practice isn't over, because another team is patiently pacing outside the closed doors. Coach hits one more ground ball that skids to the shortstop, barely bouncing to her as the seams spin every which way. Welcome to east coast softball.
The sport of softball has taken off since the passage of Title IX, as schools expand team sport opportunities for girls, finding fields in small towns and bustling cities. Girls learn the difference between a rise ball and a drop ball, how to slap and when to take a lead. Yet for most on the east coast, practicing these and other fundamentals are restricted to a short season, especially when compared to the duration of softball-friendly weather on the west coast.
For collegiate players on University of Michigan's softball team, unfriendly winter weather conditions have become as common as curve balls. The cold air sweeps through in early October, freezing fall-ball bats while blasting the bases until late March and even into early April, making preseason practices challenging. While the growing sport has recently generated new followers across the country, the great outdoors creates many coastal inequities.
So how is it that the University of Michigan produced a solid softball team that began its 2005 spring season with a national No. 1 ranking? Head coach Carol Hutchins understands the setbacks that coincide with playing in the east; yet her Michigan softball team defied most odds and went on to win the national championship, beating out schools that sweat in the sun. This first-place finish is the highest for a Big Ten team in baseball or softball since the Michigan baseball team finished third in 1983. To go even further, this was the first time a softball team from the East Coast won a national championship – ever.
According to Michigan's senior shortstop Jessica Merchant, the team “didn't care if [they] were from the East Coast, [they] just wanted to play great softball…It's great for the Big Ten, it's great for everyone.” And many have agreed that this monumental win has provoked momentum throughout the country, providing new hope for the otherwise overlooked eastern teams
Warmer weather produces longer seasons, longer seasons mean more games and more games enable young talents to flourish into Pac-10 competitors. It'd be rare to see a player from New York wearing a “9th Annual Christmas Tournament” t-shirt, but for Patty Egan, a pitcher who grew up in Arizona and now wears her shirt proudly in New York, it fits perfectly.
“I'm used to playing all year round, every year since I was nine,” noted Egan, Binghamton University (N.Y.) softball player. “Competition in the west is fierce.” Egan mentions that playing outside enables teams to work on plays together, but adds that the time indoors most eastern teams experience promotes more conditioning hours. Getting in shape is a key component to winning longer games and playing with better speed and agility. Practicing in the poorly lit gym, however, is a much different setting than the blowing dirt and dewy grass of an outdoor facility.
While some former West Coast players like Egan made the move and migrated to the east, many players on such teams reside in nearby eastern areas and did not receive the benefits of playing outside year-round.
“If you take all the kids in Syracuse [New York] and let them play for 12 months in a year from second grade,” noted UCLA head coach Sue Enquist, “they'll play just like the California kids.” So what does it take to turn the winter months into beneficial practice time and achieve a solid 12 months of play? Drills, drills, drills.
Coaches construct beneficial workouts and drills that maximize the surroundings while minimizing the room for error. Throwing mistakes could be costly and fielding errors could provoke the same result. When girls are taking ground balls just a few feet from where another group is performing timed sit-ups, the ball must be fielded properly. This added pressure allows the players to focus on quality and not quantity, as well as ensuring trust in teammates.
But when the indoor blues roll around, it's time for teams to migrate to warmer places and participate in tournament ball. This can result in a cost factor for many schools, disabling the amount of travel as well as altering destinations. Some northeastern teams travel only as far as Virginia, where warm weather is still weeks away. Girls with asthma must take special precautions, and all players must learn to adapt to playing in the cold.
A general rule when playing in this type of environment is as follows: if a player is cold even with a jacket on, then it's too cold to play. Tell that to a center fielder wearing a winter hat and two layers of Under Armour who swore she just saw a snowflake. Muscles get tight, gripping the ball properly becomes a huge feat, and the vibrations felt after hitting the ball at the end of the bat can be earth-shattering (or knuckle-breaking).
This is East Coast softball. The athletes endure the cold weather through determination to be the best they can be, through pride in their abilities and in their school, through resilience and toughness. Lisa Fernandez once said, “…only we can control our own destinies. The only limitations are those you put on yourself.” Like any athlete, it is a player's character that enables her to overcome the uncontrollable odds and put forth a winning effort. Hutchins recalls that her team believed from day one and that getting to the tournament was hard; winning it even harder. “For us to be the champion, I don't think there's a word for it.” And there's not; players from around the east coast and the rest of the nation would much rather echo two: thank you.
Editor's note: Lauren Verrusio played Division I softball for Binghamton University, located in a snowy central valley of New York.