April 25, 2001
| Ramona Shelburne |  | Year: Senior
Position: OF
Height: 5-2
Hometown: West Hills, CA
High School: El Camino Real
Major: American Studies |
|
It must have been something in the food over at the Beesons. Yes, definitely the food at the Beesons on Friday night.
I mean how can you explain what happened in between a 7-0 loss at Arizona on Friday night in Tucson and a doubleheader sweep of Arizona State less than 48 hours afterwards in which we blasted 7 homeruns.
Since it was already 9:30 at night and we had a 2-hour drive to Phoenix later that night, all we ate over at Sarah Beeson's house were sandwiches and yummy desserts but man, something in there must have changed our attitude. Against Arizona we were passive. They were the aggressors, the ones who made plays and put pressure on the defense (consider our 14 strikeouts as exhibit A in that argument). On Sunday against ASU, we came out swinging literally from the top of the first inning when Dozer (Jess Mendoza) went deep and got us on the board.
How is it that the same team can play so differently within such a short period of time?
Well, aside from whatever was in the food at the Beeson's house, the only way I can explain it is that we're still learning how to play as a top-5 team. Still trying on that identity.
See, in previous years we came into games against the UCLAs and Arizonas of the world as underdogs and framed wins over them as upsets. I'm not saying that we didn't expect to win, we did, but deep down, I don't know that all of us believed we were as good a team as they were.
This year it's different and it's taking some getting used to. We can hang with the UCLAs and Arizonas now. We can beat them. We should beat them.
Of course we still have respect for them, but now it's like we respect ourselves more, believe in our abilities more.
On Friday night, we didn't play with that attitude. Sunday we did and the difference was obvious.
Coming to the park with that attitude creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. You walk into the stadium with a swagger and you'll play the way you see yourself. If you walk in a little intimidated, the other team will sense it and they'll jump all over you.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about expectations and how they can either inspire and motivate you or place undue pressure on you depending on your attitude towards them. There's a fine line between being confident and being complacent. Good teams know how to walk that line. You play every game expecting to win but never taking that for granted.
Last week against Cal Poly was a good example of that. We definitely expected to win but weren't doing much to make that happen until about the fifth or sixth inning. The good part was that we didn't panic when we got down and multiple people stepped up and helped us walk away with the win. Michelle (Thiry) hit double, Rob dropped down a bunt, Dozer blasted a 2-RBI double. There were more clutch hits but I can't remember all of em.
Having multiple people step up has been key for us this year because it makes it so that no one or two people feel like they have get the winning hit or throw a shutout every game (Dana I'm talking about you).
Against ASU, Kira (Ching) and Al (Jessica Allister) were huge. Maureen (LeCocq) threw a shutout and Tori (Nyberg) did an awesome job of shutting them down in the second game. Last week against Cal, Jenni Shideler hit the game winning homerun.
Every game three or four or five people step up and we win as a team, not just on one or two people's performances. That's why we have been playing like a top-5 team this year. That's why we can walk into the stadium with a swagger and expect to win against anyone. The hard part is remembering that and not taking it for granted. Making it happen everyday and taking that attitude into every game.
Then again, maybe it was the food over at the Beesons.
