By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
Conventional is not a word that applies to the San Jose State women’s softball team.
After becoming known for their saying “no field, no problem” the team proved to everyone around that not having a field to call their own was not going to interfere from becoming Mountain West champions.
“I think this means something to all of us,” said junior catcher Alyssa Avila. “More than it would to other people because I think we all found something to build off of and that thing was not having a field.”
Last night, the team, along with family, friends and supporters/donors of the team gathered at CEFCU Stadium to be presented with their Mountain West Conference championship rings. The event was a reminder to everyone of their tremendous accomplishments last season.
“You have to sit back and enjoy these things,” said head coach Pete Turner. “You don’t get a lot of opportunities to do this, it’s tough to win a conference championship. I owe it to them to honor them and this is about them.”
The rings were presented to the team by members of the 2013 Western Athletic Conference champion SJSU softball team.
“What makes it more special is not only that we don’t know what the rings look like but we also get it presented to us by the WAC champions who won a few years ago,” said sophomore infielder Janessa Lozano.
For the current members of the team, the appearance of the rings were a complete surprise. Designed by the players that graduated at the end of the season, inside the box was an unknown treasure to the players.
“The rings are just as pretty as they were in the pictures the seniors saw, said 2017 graduate Colette Riggs. “We thought it was really important to have our record on there and just saying ‘Mountain West Champions’ on it was the most important.”
Most would think the women clinched the title on the field, yet the team didn’t learn they were champions until sitting in the locker room after losing to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“We didn’t know we had won conference until after we had gotten yelled at for losing,” said junior outfielder Kristen Heffley. “Then coach said, ‘Oh, by the way, congrats on being champions’.”
Looking back on the moment, it wasn’t what the team had hoped for but ultimately, the winning of the conference outweighed the loss of one game.
“It wasn’t the way we planned it,” Lozano said. “After it settled in and we saw our trophy being brought out to us, that is when we felt all of the excitement and that’s when we came together the most, after that loss.”
After receiving a nearly $450,000 donation to their program by an unnamed donor, the Spartans should have a field this upcoming season. The estimated completion of phase one of the field is Feb. 28th.
“We want to find something to play for again,” Lozano said. “Obviously, we’re in the process of getting a new field and we just wanna show the freshman what it’s like to have nothing and how to build from that and keep pushing.”
With their upcoming season starting in February, the team is working to make up the loss of some key players last season but is still ready to defend its title.