Pitch By Pitch, Game By Game

The Motto that Led the Team to a Record Breaking Year

By: Savanna Peters, Selah Shepherd, Aaron Green

Howe Field was filled with shocked faces. It was the first year the Oregon Ducks softball team clinched the Pac-12 Title and held the highest ranking in school history. Oregon fans thought they would be taking a trip to OKC to the Women’s College World Series the following week to cheer the team on to a National Title.

On May 26^th, 2013, the University of Oregon Women’s Softball team was surprised with a 2-4 loss to Nebraska in NCAA Super Regionals. After coming off its first Pac-12 Title and earning a tournament ranking of #3, the last thing the team thought would happen was loss to #14 ranked Nebraska. Once the shock of the loss set in, the Ducks was able to analyze where they went wrong.

One thing the team was able to agree on is that it got a little ahead of itself after the regular season came to a close. Current Senior Alexa Peterson reflected on last year’s Super Regional loss. “[Not getting ahead of ourselves] is something we didn’t do as well last year,” Peterson said. “We won the Pac-12 Title and we sat back and were excited that we achieved that, but we needed to make sure that we stayed in the moment, that we’re just taking it one pitch at a time and focusing on staying in that moment.”

After analyzing the loss, the team decided that the 2013-2014 season would be the start of Oregon Softball’s “Redemption Tour.”

Although the Ducks have not been able to secure a National Championship yet, rewind  six years ago and you can see how far the Ducks have come. The journey started with the hiring of New Zealand native Mike White. The seasoned 30-year coaching veteran created success for the Ducks the moment he took over as head coach. White is no stranger to success. The International Softball Congress (ISC) Hall of Fame pitcher has won a handful of medals for both the New Zealand National Team as well as the US National Team.

Since White took over, the Ducks have rarely dropped out of the top 20 rankings with the highest ranking being #1 in the nation in 2014 for six straight weeks. The Ducks have made it to NCAA Super Regionals for the past five years; two of those appearances resulting in a trip to the Women’s College World Series.

At the end of the day, White attributes a large majority of the success to the women who executed every pitch, play, and at-bat. The three players who have contributed most to the Ducks new-found success are seniors Alexa Peterson, Kailee Cuico, and Courtney Ceo. These three powerhouses all add something different to the team. Peterson has the versatility to play wherever she is needed; Cuico is the power hitter the team can always count on and now holds the UO career home run record; and Ceo has the speed to bring in the runs the Ducks need to win. She also led the country in batting average this season. Each of their unique skills has helped the team to claim national recognition during their four years at the UO.

Peterson has been a stand out since joining the Ducks in 2010. Her first two years at Oregon, she primarily played catcher; Junior year she shared time at catcher with newcomer Janelle Lindvall; Senior year she has made the adjustment to right field.

Peterson said, “That transition has been difficult because I’ve never played [right field] before but it has become another love for me. Catching is my first love but I also love being in the outfield.”

Fast forward to today and the Ducks find themselves with a #1 ranking going into the Women’s College World Series after finishing off a fantastic season, earning a second straight Pac-12 Title and fighting off teams in both NCAA Regionals and NCAA Super Regionals. Sophomore catcher Janelle Lindvall said, “It was really nice to know that other people looked at us as being number one…it really felt that we got the recognition we deserve.”

The team says that the success of the season is attributed to the team’s new motto of “pitch by pitch, game by game” and the strong team chemistry. The team motto is a reminder that anything can happen at any time and the best way to assure victories for the team is to only focus on the game in front of them. In response to the new motto Lindvall said, “In the back of our minds we always know what our goal is: to go to OKC, but going game by game has gotten us to where we are today.” For the Ducks, a National Championship is the ultimate goal, but the best way for them to get there is to stick with this season motto of “pitch by pitch, game by game.”

It takes a strong mental game and an understanding amongst a team to accomplish a common goal. One reason the Ducks have been successful thus far is because they stuck to their motto and maintained a strong team bond. Peterson commented on the close relationships between teammates by saying, “Over the last four years we have progressed with our team chemistry. I think that has been a big factor in our success.” Team chemistry along with a variety of other skills and attributes allowed the Ducks to get to where they are today, headed to OKC to fight for a National Championship.

Win or lose, the team has put up a record-breaking season. All three seniors will graduate as the most winning class in school history and carry between them a multitude of accolades, such as First Team All-Pac-12, All-Pac-12 Freshman Team and First Team Academic All-American. After graduation, the trio will be taking their skill to the next level and playing in the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. The Ducks will face #8 ranked Florida State in the first round of the Women’s College World Series. The fate of the #1 ranked Ducks will be known in less than a week.