The View From Here; a Look at the WCWS
The anticipation of another softball season can be overwhelming. Some wish the season would start tomorrow instead of in February or March. One thing is for sure: The players and coaches are looking forward to another season and the anticipation of what players and teams across America will do on the diamond. All want to have the best season possible and maybe even qualify for the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, only eight will advance after winning Regionals and Super Regionals.
The teams that have never been there eagerly await another shot at getting there while those that have been there often, and then miss a year (UCLA and Arizona) are more determined than ever to get back to the Mecca of college softball, Oklahoma City.
It’s the place where dreams are often realized or where they never materialize for whatever reason or reasons as the long season takes its toll and some peak too early or not at all. Or an injury occurs and the season that could have been becomes the season that never was and is lost until next season.
In 2011, it was a season when the Arizona State Sun Devils had a season to remember for their players, fans and coaches by becoming only the third team in the history of the WCWS to go through the event without making an error (120 chances) in five games, joining the 1982 and 1988 UCLA teams in the exclusive club. It was the school’s second national title and each national title was similar.
In 2011, the Sun Devils, clearly the best team in the eight-team field, won five games and finished the year 60-6. The Sun Devils became the third program to go undefeated at the WCWS since the championship series began in 2005 (Arizona State in 2008 and UCLA in 2010) and 15th overall in the event’s 30-year history. In 2008, when Arizona State won its first national title, they also were undefeated in five games and managed a fielding percentage of .984, making only two errors in 125 chances. They finished the year 66-5.
While a senior hurled the 2008 team to the national title, a freshman, Dallas Escobedo, pitched all five games in 2011. She bent at times, but didn’t break as the Sun Devils gave her the support she needed, especially at crucial times, and scored a combined 21 runs in the two games of the championship series (14 on Monday, 7 on Tuesday). The total tied UCLA (2010) for the most combined runs by a single team in a championship series since the best-of-three format began in 2005.
In becoming the first freshman pitcher to win a national championship since 1990, when UCLA’s Heather Compton pitched a complete-game one-hitter in a 2-0 win over Fresno State, Escobedo now has a chance to do something that only one person has done in the history of the WCWS. That is win three national title games which Debbie Doom achieved (1982, 1984 and 1985) pitching for UCLA.
Following the championship, Escobedo said, “I feel lucky, I guess. It’s just a whole bunch of emotions right now. We’ve worked so hard and I just came in here and had total confidence in my pitches. Today I was honestly sore and really wasn’t feeling it and I had my trainer rub me out and stretch me every single inning. I was just like, ‘okay stay focused.’ It’s a seven inning game and 21 tough outs that I know they’ll give us.”
Despite the emotions of the big game and being a freshman, Escobedo remained calm, cool and in control as Arizona State got tremendous leadership from their eight seniors. In fact, Sun Devil coach Clint Myers said, “The seniors had the best leadership I’ve seen in 35 years.”
They were all on the same page guided by Myers and his staff and they took it game-by- game, weekend-by-weekend in achieving perfection on defense and a tourney high team batting average of .338. Runner-up Florida had a .310 average with the other six teams ranging from .135 to .235.
Who would have imagined a team with a celebrated freshman pitcher would win it all in Oklahoma City and give ASU its second national title. Here’s what center fielder Lesley Rogers, who was on the 2008 national championship team, had to say about winning that second national championship. “Well, winning one is hard enough. Winning two? That’s just nuts. I feel so blessed to be part of this program. I don’t think anyone understands what kind of a team that was. My freshman year we were talented, no doubt. We had an amazing senior pitcher (Katie Burkhart) and an amazing senior class. This year, if you want to think of a perfect team, a coherent team that has every piece of what you need to win a championship. That’s what this (team) was and it was awesome.”
