Should I use the D-word, or is it still too early?
You may say it’s only two championships in a row.
You may say this team is losing too many important seniors.
You may say this team underachieved during the regular
season.
But think about it for a second.
This core group of players on the UCLA softball team is
establishing itself as a dynasty.
There, I said it ““ dynasty.
It’s not easy to go back-to-back in a sport like
softball.
But despite all of the teams lining up to try to beat UCLA when
it counts, the Bruins still prevailed.
Two years in a row.
They’ve won nine World Series games in a row.
That’s nine straight wins against the top eight teams in
the country.
Just think of all the things that have to go right for that to
happen.
“¢bull; Without a Kristen Dedmon pinch-hit single, the game may
still be tied at 1-1, in like the 81st inning.
How shocking was that hit?
Dedmon had only hit .191 for the year, with only six RBI.
Not exactly earth-shattering.
But she, like many others in the World Series, stepped up when
her team needed her the most.
“¢bull; The Bruins only got two hits Monday night, but still
managed to score three runs.
Very unusual.
Cal pitcher Kelly Anderson had thrown a perfect game for four
innings and looked dominant. The Bruins never really figured her
out, with the exception of Dedmon and Claire Sua, who homered to
give UCLA its first run.
But the rest of the team got patient. Counts started to go
deeper as the game went on, and the Bruins fought their way to a
walk and a hit by pitch, which would both score on Dedmon’s
hit. In other words, the Bruins were efficient, as every hitter
they had that didn’t make an out either scored or drove in a
run.
“¢bull; The Bruins allowed 11 hits, but only one run, in their
win Sunday over Stanford. That’s about as impressive as
UCLA’s offensive effort on Monday, but for the opposite
reason.
Pitcher Keira Goerl had to constantly work out of jams (like a
bases loaded, one-out situation in the 10th), and her defense also
helped her out a lot.
Dynasties have things like these happen to them. It’s not
luck ““ it’s skill and talent. Many things went right
for last year’s team. They had to win four games in two days
and five in three to win the championship.
The Bruins had clutch hitting throughout the postseason and a
good defense. They had scrappy, patient hitters and dominant
pitching. What more does a team need?
And when I say dynasty, I’m implying this success will
continue.
I know fully well the Bruins will lose several players this
year.
Goerl, Sua, Julie Hoshizaki, Stephanie Ramos and Amanda Simpson
will no longer get the chance to play at Easton Stadium.
But as good as those players were, it’s not that big of a
loss.
Hoshizaki and Simpson were primarily used as pinch-runners.
Ramos and Sua will be replaced by the platoon that was used to
fill the bottom of the lineup, or by a star recruiting class.
And while Goerl may have been the most prolific pitcher in UCLA
history, the future may be better.
Anjelica Selden, an incoming freshman next year, had maybe the
most unreal softball stats ever in high school: 650 innings, 1,429
strikeouts, 35 no-hitters, 4 earned runs.
Wow.
Winning NCAA Championships in prime-time on ESPN the last two
years will help future recruiting classes, too.
This team is only getting better.
Truly a dynasty in the making.
E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.