Just prior to the start of Sunday’s game against Arizona State, the UCLA softball team’s four seniors walked out one by one to home plate.
They walked arm in arm with their family and friends in what would be their final regular-season game at Easton Stadium. They got hugs, flowers and framed pictures while they listened to three-year team manager and master of ceremonies Jeff Knox call out accolade after accolade, special moment after special moment.
And of course, there were a couple tears.
“I really didn’t think I was going to cry today,” senior Krista Colburn said. “I said, “˜I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry,’ but it was just really emotional.”
The ceremony gave each of the four seniors a chance to reflect on their respective careers as Bruins.
“It’s just been amazing,” Colburn said.
“It’s been unbelievable here,” Anjelica Selden said.
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Danielle Peterson said after a pause. “But there are moments that I’ve had here that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget at all.”
For one senior, playing in this weekend’s series may have meant a little more than the rest.
Redshirt senior Ashley Herrera made her return Friday from yet another injury that sidelined her for close to a season.
A torn ACL in her left knee kept Herrera out of action during the entire 2007 season. And eight games into the 2008 season, after months of rehab from the first injury, batting .586 and looking better than ever, Herrera broke her left ankle sliding into third.
Yet, 10 weeks later, she was in a Bruin uniform, in the starting lineup and ready to take the field at third.
“I wasn’t even nervous (on Friday),” Herrera said. “It was just so much excitement and so much relief to finally be back there. It was just a sense of elation to be back on the field. I was just trying to stay within myself and not get too emotional about the whole thing.”
The Bruins took two of three over the pivotal weekend, splitting their two-game set with No. 1 Arizona State (54-4, 16-2 Pac-10), and beating No. 10 Arizona (33-16, 10-8 Pac-10) on Friday. The Bruins needed a walk-off home run from Monica Harrison to top the Wildcats 2-1, and a two-home-run game from Amanda Kamekona to beat the Sun Devils 5-0, before falling to them on Sunday, 5-2. Arizona State’s win gave the Sundevils a one-game lead over the No. 4 Bruins (43-6, 15-3 Pac-10) with three games to go in the race for the Pac-10 championship.
“It was a great weekend,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “We knew we still had some things we still needed to figure out with both teams because we plan for all of us to be there at the end. We walked away with a lot of information. We accomplished some really big things against some really good opponents, and I walk out of here feeling a lot more prepared for the next time we face them.”
But while the games were certainly important, Herrera’s return made the weekend special. The Canyon Country native, who has played six positions and is a threat on the base paths, didn’t show many signs of rust.
Twice in Friday’s game, Herrera got the Bruins out of two-out jams with outstanding defensive plays at third. In one instance she charged and barehanded a bunt, and in another she threw to first from her knee.
On Saturday Herrera got her first hit in weeks ““ a bunt single that landed just left of home plate; a bunt that she beat out showing no signs of tenderness on her ankle.
By Sunday, her leaping grab of a sharply hit line drive looked almost routine.
Herrera said her first few games back gave her a chance to adjust both her game and her perspective.
“I just needed to step back and realize where I’ve come from and that I’ve missed two months of live pitching,” she said. “Defensively I feel great. I’m just trying to do anything I can to contribute to the team so we keep winning.”
Her coach, for one, was ecstatic to have her back.
“Ashley is a great example and an inspiration to so many people that, if you don’t give up, if you keep on fighting and never ever waiver, not only can you find yourself back on the field, you can find yourself back at the same level that you left,” Inouye-Perez said. “She was ahead of schedule in both unfortunate injuries, which just tells a lot about her.
“She wasn’t going to listen to what anybody thought should happen in the recovery process. She was on a mission to get herself back and get back to 100 percent.”