A fresh crop of new players has come in and cultivated a fruitful season for the UCLA softball team so far this year.
Two freshmen – outfielder Gabrielle Maurice and shortstop Delaney Spaulding – have started in more than half of UCLA’s games thus far. Freshman outfielder Jelly Felix has also emerged lately, hitting a lead-changing home run for the Bruins Thursday. The freshman trio will showcase their skills at Easton Stadium on Tuesday, as No. 3 UCLA (35-4, 9-3 Pac-12) faces off against Cal State Northridge (26-18, 3-6 Big West).
Thus far, the freshman class has helped catalyze a nine-game improvement over last year’s team through a combination of base-stealing, solid defense and timely hitting. Spaulding leads the team in steals, Maurice has five outfield assists, and Felix is fourth in on-base percentage.
Spaulding attributes the improvement to the close bond that the team has formed not only during the season, but prior to the season.
During the preseason, the freshmen got a sense of both training and team bonding at UCLA. The training came in the form of an army day that the team had, while the bonding came through a team trip to Lake Arrowhead.
“We just come together as friends first, rather than teammates,” Spaulding said. “We did do that army thing, and that pushed us more than anything. … We go to Lake Arrowhead as just strictly just fun, we do absolutely no softball. And so that definitely helps a lot … we build the friendship and we build the trust. … And that has helped so much for this season.”
The freshmen didn’t just train and socialize with their older teammates. They also competed with them, challenging them in practice and battling for starting roles.
One player who emerged during practice was Felix. Even though Maurice and Spaulding were more heavily recruited out of high school, Felix proved that she had a comparable talent level.
“(Felix) came in and literally earned, a lot of respect first of all, but just earned her position,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “She came out and she hit … against our pitchers. She just proved that you know she’s here to play.”
Senior pitcher Jessica Hall noted that the upperclassmen have played a role in the freshmen’s success.
“I think the big difference in this year is that we have majority upperclassmen now, so we have a lot more experience than we did in the past,” Hall said. “I think it’s easier for a freshman to come into that, because when you’re a freshman coming into a younger group, they kind of have the excuse of, you know, acting like freshmen.”
The freshmen still have a lot of growing to do, as they still have half of the Pac-12 season remaining after the Northridge game Tuesday.
yung n talented crew w/ outstanding seniors & juniors…jelly is an outstanding hitter & player…gabrielle is an all-around stud…delaney soon to be all-american…great move giving more experience…this team has it all.