Calif. players flock together
Softball season in North Dakota doesn’t have the allure of warmer schools. For starters, teams are lucky if the snow is completely off the field by mid-April. After the snow melts, players have to slosh through a mucky mess on the field to chase fly balls and field ground balls. Oftentimes, players’ hands are so cold when they hit the big yellow softball that their fingers feel as though they were slammed in a car door.
Regardless of the circumstances, the NDSU softball team continues to bring in players every year from areas of the country, including the Bison’s intriguing recruiting hotbed, California.
“ Weather doesn’t bother me,” freshman Jackie Currie of Corona, Calif., said confidently. “We used to go to the mountains a lot.”
“ Everybody I knew was going to school in California after high school,” said Erin Troup, a junior outfielder and native of Placentia, Calif. “That just wasn’t what I wanted to do; I wanted something different.”
On this year’s squad, three players call their home the Golden State. Much to their liking, the girls traveled home over spring break.
Troup, Currie and freshman Andi Padilla showed off for their families and friends as the Bison competed in the National Invitational Softball Tournament in San Jose, Calif.
When the team arrived March 9, the women were reunited with their families they hadn’t seen for a long time. All three families are from the Los Angeles area, which is almost a six-hour drive from where the team stayed.
Troup admitted both she and her parents were exhausted from the day of travel, but they had an enjoyable dinner together that night before making it back to the hotel for the 10 p.m. room check.
Troup was recruited when the Bison still played a Division II schedule that didn’t have much travel, so as she came to NDSU, she had little optimism for her parents to see her play at all.
“ I knew coming out here that I wouldn’t see my parents very much,” Troup said. “With the move to Division I and the team traveling more, they have been able to see me more. It’s great.”
The Bison were slated to play a pair of games Friday, but the whole day was washed out from rain, leaving the entire day for the girls to enjoy the time with their families.
Because of the bad weather, the Bison played two games Saturday and Sunday.
It didn’t take long for the California women to make their mark back in their old stomping grounds.
In their first action in the tournament — although the Bison lost to Nevada 9-2 — Currie, who plays third base, doubled and had an RBI in the contest.
In the nightcap, Padilla started her first game of the season and yielded two earned runs but took the loss as Sacramento State downed the Bison 4-1. Padilla picked up her first win of the year in a game after the tournament against San Jose State.
At first glance, the fact that NDSU has three players from the Los Angeles area and zero players from North Dakota is hard to fathom. However, for the California players, NDSU is a place where they can play. With the abundance of quality softball players in California, that is exactly what they are looking for.
“ There is such a big population in California, and there are so many good softball players,” head coach Darren Mueller said. “It is also (a) good opportunity for them to come in here and get a chance to play at this level.”
Mueller said since the Bison are able to travel west, recruits can easily see NDSU play. On this year’s trip, he said several high school players come to watch the team play.
Currie and Troup said they were won over by NDSU when they came to Fargo for their official recruiting visits.
“ I had a lot of offers from California, Texas and Colorado, but I came here basically because of the girls and coaches,” Currie said.
For whatever reason, Mueller and his staff continue to mystify Bison fans with their recruiting skills.
Mueller is confident the teams he puts together will compete at the Division I level. After going 24-27 last year, the Bison, who have been riddled by injury this season, are currently 6-18 at the halfway mark.
“ We will turn it around,” the veteran Troup said. “You have to have all three elements, and there are some games where (we) only have one or two of them, but we’re getting there.”