After her senior season in 2003, former UCLA softball player
Natasha Watley departed as one of the greatest players of her era.
She won the Honda Award in softball as well as the Honda-Broderick
Cup for being the nation’s top collegiate female athlete for
the year 2002-2003, and she finished her collegiate career with the
third-highest hit total in NCAA history. This year, however, Watley
has returned to the team in a different role. Watley, a shortstop
who continues to play softball professionally in the summer and for
the U.S. National Team, has been serving as a volunteer assistant
coach. “It’s been a lot of fun getting a chance to work
with some of the girls,” Watley said. “I have a bit of
a connection with some of them because the seniors were freshmen
when I was a senior. It’s been fun to see how their careers
turned out.” This year’s seniors could certainly learn
a lot from Watley. Watley ended her UCLA career as the
Bruins’ career leader in pretty much every statistical
category in which a leadoff hitter is expected to produce. She owns
the Bruin record in hits (395), triples (21), stolen bases (158)
and runs scored (252), and she is second all-time in Bruin history
with a .450 career batting average. Watley won an Olympic gold
medal with the U.S. National Team in 2004 while hitting .400,
starting all nine games, and setting an Olympic record for five
stolen bases. The type of experience and success that Watley brings
as an assistant coach is what coach Sue Enquist considers to be
extremely valuable to this year’s Bruin squad. “She
brings a player’s perspective and a player’s
mindset,” Enquist said. “Coaches are coaches, but to be
able to bring in somebody who is a current player, she is able to
pick up things that we’re not able to pick up. I knew
she’d be a great addition to this program, and the kids have
certainly benefited from her knowledge and her experience.”
In addition to her duties as an assistant coach, Watley also is
preparing for her upcoming professional season with the
Philadelphia Force of the National Pro Fastpitch League as well as
the World Championships, which take place in Beijing in August and
September. “In the morning, I go to the gym. … Then I come
(to Easton Stadium), and I’ll get my hitting in and get
groundballs,” Watley said. “(Former UCLA player) Amanda
Freed also comes here, and we’ll just go work out until the
team gets here. … Then I turn into coach.” For the players
on the team, having Watley around as a coach this season has not
only helped them on the field, but has added a welcome personality
to the dugout. “She’s a really good bridge between us
and the coaches,” senior second baseman Caitlin Benyi said.
“Just as a presence in the dugout, she’s an amazing
person. If anything, she’s a really good friend of ours, and
it’s great to have her around.”
DURAN, DURAN: For the second time this year,
senior third baseman Andrea Duran was honored with the USA Softball
National Collegiate Player of the Week award for her performances
against Washington, Arizona and Arizona State last week. Duran, who
also earned Pac-10 Player of the Week for the third time this year,
belted two homers and drove in eight runs out of the leadoff spot
last week while hitting .368. “It means a lot, because I
think that I work hard to get better every day, and it kind of
shows all my hard work,” Duran said. “What makes it
even better is that we’re winning.” Duran becomes the
first player to win National Collegiate Player of the Week twice
this season. However, Duran was not on the list of the 25 finalists
for the National Collegiate Player of the Year Award, which was
announced on April 7. Two other Bruins, junior shortstop Jodie
Legaspi and sophomore pitcher Anjelica Selden, were on that list,
however.
STILL ON TOP: For the fourth consecutive week,
UCLA is ranked No. 1 in the nation by both the USA Today/NFCA poll
and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll. The Bruins (40-5,
12-3 Pac-10) have been ranked in the top five by both polls all
season long.