Softball Opens New Stadium
By Nick Ostiller
The doubleheader against the University of the Pacific opened not only the 2013 season for the Broncos, but a whole new era for Santa Clara softball as the team was finally able to compete on campus. Since 1979, the Broncos had called various fields and locations "home" with a local park and a nearby junior college serving as the most recent versions.
"It's very exciting and this team certainly deserves it," said Athletic Director Dan Coonan, addressing the crowd of 250 that came out to support the momentous occasion on Saturday morning. "It's a big day for us and we're so happy that you could be here to share it."
The two games marked a big step in a journey that began back in July 2011 when the athletic department was given the green light to start fundraising for an on-campus softball facility. Less than two years later, the dream is being realized as students and parents lined the new field under a clear, blue sky on Saturday morning. Despite dropping both games to Pacific by scores of 6-0 and 8-1, Santa Clara Head Coach Lisa Mize expressed her positive feelings about the big day for her team.
"The atmosphere was awesome," said Mize. "Just to know you're in front of a home crowd with that many fans that came out to watch, it was a great sense of support that we're going to get. Hopefully that is going to continue and we'll build from there."
The field itself, which is nestled between the Leavey Center and Stephen Schott Stadium, proudly displays the words "Santa Clara University" in large letters on the outfield wall. With additional construction to the field already planned for the coming months, Mize hopes that continuous improvement of the clean, new facility will not only garner school spirit, but boost the program as well.
"It's a huge recruiting tool," she said. "The campus sells itself, but this is one more piece. I think we'll have one of the best facilities in the conference for years to come."
While Mize believes that the SCU Softball Field will attract future talent, the process seems to already have begun as evidenced by past decisions of players currently on the roster. Freshman Ciara Gonzales, who was the starting pitcher for Santa Clara in the second game of the doubleheader, said that "it was a big selling point to be able to come into a team that was just starting out with a new facility."
The new field was also a selling point for fans of Bronco softball. With the bleachers behind home plate filled to capacity, several students were relegated to standing room - something many of the players had never experienced during their careers at Santa Clara.
"It was really exciting to have a home crowd," said sophomore pitcher Jaymi Bautista-Geiger. "Everyone's family came out and a lot of students came and supported."
Some of the students that showed their support to the team on opening day included senior Devin Character and junior Ashley Cabrera. Character attended the game because his girlfriend is on the team and said that he will "probably be at a lot of them now...because now it's on campus so it's easy to get to."
Cabrera, on the other hand, did not have any intention of attending but was drawn in my the energy of the crowd as she was walking by the field.
"It seemed like a really vibrant, happening, loud place so I stopped by," said Cabrera. "It's the opening game I think so I was like, 'I should check it out,' because I haven't really seen the field yet...It's a really fun, energetic atmosphere."
Contact Nick Ostiller at nostiller@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.