After practicing all fall and playing 27 games in Farrington Stadium this season, the No. 5 ASU softball team is ready to play somewhere else.
The Sun Devils (25–2) will get their chance in the Judi Garman Classic, which takes place in Fullerton, Calif., this weekend.
“Our teams in the past have always enjoyed traveling,” senior shortstop Katelyn Boyd said. “I’ve talked to some of the freshmen, and they are all very excited to be going. We just want to make sure that excitement doesn’t turn into nerves.”
Boyd will be looking for the team to repeat the dominance it displayed on the road in 2011, when it went 14–3 away from home.
It won’t be easy, as this tournament pits the team against some tough competition. On Thursday, ASU will face BYU, which has two wins against top 25 competitors and undefeated No. 10 Louisiana Lafayette.
On Saturday, the team will face Fresno State and No. 19 Michigan, and on Sunday it will be Notre Dame looking to pull the upset.
So far, ASU has been used to teams having this underdog mentality against it since they won the national championship last season.
However, the team’s approach to this stems from an oration by pitching coach Chuck D’Arcy before the season started.
“He told us we aren’t defending our national championship, we’re attacking for another one,” Boyd said. “(Winning every game), that’s where the bar is set. Everyone on the team will tell you those two games we shouldn’t have lost.”
Whatever happens in this tournament, Boyd said it won’t define the team. After all, this is supposed to be one of the more fun tournaments of the season, according to coach Clint Myers.
“This tournament will give us a chance to bond a bit more as a team, since everyone makes the trip,” Myers said. “It’s nice for the Californians, as they get to go home and see their families.”
Freshman third baseman Haley Steele is one of eight players from California on the roster.
Steele has cemented herself at the hot corner, fending off challenges from two other players on the team.
While she admits going from shortstop in high school to third baseman in college has been a difficult adjustment, she has been doing all she can to get comfortable in playing a key role on the team.
“I’m always the one who stays after and hits in the batting cages, or when coach D’Arcy is throwing (batting practice) after practice,” Steele said. “I want to give myself the best opportunity to learn and get more confidence.”
Boyd challenges young players like Steele to “just get better every game.”
This is one of the reasons Boyd is high up in the record books in almost all the major hitting categories. In her four years at ASU, Boyd has improved in a majority of statistical categories each year. She is currently just 21 RBI away from the career record held by Katie Cochran.
“She is just a phenomenal player who deserves every accolade she achieves,” Myers said.
Boyd says she doesn’t look at statistics, though. She instead wants to focus on the most important thing: winning a second national championship.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
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