OU Softball

Pendley's journey to OU could be the difference in 2013

RJ Young
SoonerScoop.com Staff Writer

It's early May, nearly a month before the start of the Women's College World Series. 20 miles from where the NCAA national championship will be decided, Shelby Pendley is at work.


Associated Press
Keilani Ricketts couldn't do it on her own in 2012, but she has Shelby Pendley in 2013
The sophomore is taking ground balls from graduate manager JT Gasso after practice has ended at Marita Hynes Field. JT snaps the ball off the bat, and Pendley, fielding her natural position at shortstop, scoops up the ball and tosses it toward first base in one graceful motion.

The exercise is repeated while her teammates gather in the dugout and walk to the locker room. It's been just a few days since Pendley was cited as Big 12 Conference Player of the Week. Later, she'll be named the conference's Player of the Year.

She's in the midst of a 12-game stretch where she's batted .556, hit 10 home runs and slugged 1.500. She's a home run shy of matching her single-season best for homers in a season, and she'll break that record before OU's season ends.

So, yes, she can hit for power, hit for average. But it's the extra pains she's taking right now to become a better infielder that has impressed her hall of fame coach most.

"Her work ethic is phenomenal," Gasso says as Pendley continues to take ground balls, "and through that work ethic everything that she's getting is definitely earned, so you're seeing that."

Six months ago the Sooners had no idea Pendley would be instrumental to their success this year or of the obstacles she'd have to overcome just to call them teammates.

***

Pendley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee on July 1, 2011 while playing for the U.S. junior national team. It'd be the first of several physical ailments she'd endure heading into and during her first season of college softball.

"I was watching that whole thing happen, and that sucked," said sophomore slugger Lauren Chamberlain. "It was just a slide at home that went the wrong way, and that was it."

Rehabilitation for a torn ACL can take as long as a year. Pendley said she was hitting again 2 ? months after her surgery and taking ground balls 5 ? months after her surgery.

"It was intense," she said.

But by spring, she was playing again.

As a freshman, she started all 57 of Arizona's games for Wildcat coach Mike Candrea, fielding her position well. But that wasn't the primary reason she was in the lineup. She was in the lineup to clean up the bases, to rack up total bases, to drive in runs.

She batted .331 and accounted for 55 runs batted in last season. After hitting for those numbers and slugging .703, she was named to the Pac-12 Conference's first team.

***

Months before the 2013 season began, Pendley started to give transferring away from Arizona thought. Why? She wasn't comfortable, and the Tucson environment no longer fit her.

"The right fit is, like, you gotta know," Pendley said. "You gotta fit in with everyone. You gotta get along with the coaches. That was the biggest thing, was getting along with coaches."

Toward the end of 2012, few people had any idea what program she might play for this season. But Pendley had quietly targeted Oklahoma.

She combined what she knew about OU from her recruitment by Patty Gasso with research she performed about the program to come to the conclusion that Norman was where she needed to be in January 2013.

Pendley knew Gasso from her recruitment as a prep player, and Gasso knew Pendley had family she could stay with in Moore, Okla. Over the phone, Pendley convinced Gasso a transfer could work for both her and the Sooners.

But there were still logistics for Pendley to work out. She knew she'd have to use the exception.

***
According to rules in the NCAA's transfer guide, if an academically eligible student-athlete hasn't transferred from a four-year university before, he or she "might be able to use the one-time transfer exception to play right away at a Division I or II school."

To use this exception, the student-athlete must play "a sport other than baseball in Division I, basketball in Division I, men's ice hockey in Division I or football in Division I."

Pendley, being an Arizona softball player in good academic standing, was a candidate to use the exception. So she started making phone calls.

"I just had to call and ask the NCAA people and get on their website and figure out all the rules and stuff," Pendley said.

But there's was one hitch: To play right away, Pendley needed to secure a written release from Arizona granting her request to play for another program not in the Pac-12.

Pendley was prepared to sit out the 2013 season when she approached Candrea, thinking he might not be inclined to grant her release.

"I honestly thought I wasn't going to get to play in the spring," Pendley said. "I thought I was going to have to sit a year, and I was prepared for that because there's no point in wasting a year somewhere where I wasn't happy."

She believes she has found her niche here, in Norman, and that she made a smart decision transfer.

"I got along with all the girls great, and this just seems like a better fit," Pendley said. "More family-oriented here, and that's what I really like. It's like one big family."

That's what she needed to thrive: an environment with family, with great teammates and coaches. She needed a place where she fit.
Click to expand...

Kudos to Coach Candrea for permitting the release.
 
35TangoTango said:
No, my ego isn't nearly big enough to think that I would know more than a successful college coach.
Click to expand...

I wasn't talking about a coach. I'm talking about coaches. We're talking about softball 101, this isn't high level strategy we're discussing.

Do you think it's a good idea for a runner to slow down running to first base?
 
SoonerNorm said:
I wasn't talking about a coach. I'm talking about coaches. We're talking about softball 101, this isn't high level strategy we're discussing.
Click to expand...

So do you think you know more about softball 101 that college coaches?
 
SoonerNorm said:
Where do you think college coaches learned softball 101?
Click to expand...
From you? Must be, since you seem to be implying that you know more than they do.

I don't know nearly so much about this subject - obviously not the expert you are, but so far watching NCAA tournament games, I have yet to see a runner thrown out because they slowed down on the way to first base.
 
35TangoTango said:
From you? Must be, since you seem to be implying that you know more than they do.

I don't know nearly so much about this subject - obviously not the expert you are, but so far watching NCAA tournament games, I have yet to see a runner thrown out because they slowed down on the way to first base.
Click to expand...

Whether you have seen one thrown out or not is not the point. I've never seen someone who was texting while driving have a wreck. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.

You never did answer whether you think it is a good or bad idea for runners to slow down before reaching the bag?
 
SoonerNorm said:
Whether you have seen one thrown out or not is not the point.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is the point. It is exactly the point. The college coaches must know what they are doing (in spite of your criticism) because it is working.

You never did answer whether you think it is a good or bad idea for runners to slow down before reaching the bag?
Click to expand...
I think it depends on where the ball is. If the ball is in the infield, run like hell. If the ball is way out in left field, be prepared to make the turn toward second. They probably teach this in softball 102.
 
Norm, when posters get contentious it makes for lousy threads. How about taking it to PMs?
 
35TangoTango said:
Yes, it is the point. It is exactly the point. The college coaches must know what they are doing (in spite of your criticism) because it is working.

I think it depends on where the ball is. If the ball is in the infield, run like hell. If the ball is way out in left field, be prepared to make the turn toward second. They probably teach this in softball 102.
Click to expand...

We agree. When the ball is hit to an infielder, you run as hard as you can. I think it would be highly unlikely that a runner can be at top speed as they touch first base and come to a complete stop within 2-3 steps.
 
This is something that is the difference between the "ideal" and the "reality." I think that every coach and would-be coach, viewer, and critic talks about running it out. It is the definition of hustle. After all, there may be a mistake, and you might just get on due to your hustle.

Then, there is the reality. We see more hamstrings from trying to hard to run to first on a groundout, or having someone step on the base awkwardly as they exert too much effort for control over hitting the bag with some dexterity. A lot of injuries seem to result from trying too hard when it really makes little sense.

Now, I see more of a "hustle with reason" approach. While a manager may really be proud of a hitter who gives it his all trying to run out a simple ground ball to second, they really don't want their star injured by stretching too hard to get to the bag. You begin to see the speedsters run it out, because they may actually beat the throw. You don't see the big, slow DHs break their backs. They are actually now in danger of injuring their rib cages by swinging too hard. We see that injury ten times a year these days.
 
Due to the weather, the games tonight will be delayed. They don't know what time the first game will begin.
 
Norm, I certainly agree with you in theory, and it's fairly obvious that the other guy was just trying to pick a message board fight.

I noticed the same thing that you observed in last night's game(s). And while I originally had the same thought as you, I ultimately decided – after watching a couple more of those plays – that the young ladies actually were going full steam to first base. But as soon as they crossed the bag, they were able to shut it down rather quickly. It seems that a 120, 140-lb. female athlete doesn't require nearly as much time/room to stop as a 200-220 lb. guy who's running to first base.

Just my thoughts.
 
scrybe said:
Norm, I certainly agree with you in theory, and it's fairly obvious that the other guy was just trying to pick a message board fight.

I noticed the same thing that you observed in last night's game(s). And while I originally had the same thought as you, I ultimately decided – after watching a couple more of those plays – that the young ladies actually were going full steam to first base. But as soon as they crossed the bag, they were able to shut it down rather quickly. It seems that a 120, 140-lb. female athlete doesn't require nearly as much time/room to stop as a 200-220 lb. guy who's running to first base.

Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

You could certainly be right about that. I had not really thought of the weight and size difference which would most probably make a difference in stopping distance. Thanks!
 
sybarite said:
But, I'm always the arbitrator---as long as you do it my way.
Click to expand...

We Can Work It Out
Lennon/McCartney

Try to see it my way,
Do i have to keep on talking till i can't go on?
While you see it your way,
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Think of what you're saying.
You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright.
Think of what i'm saying,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Life is very short, and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it's a crime,
So i will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if i am right or i am wrong.
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we may fall apart before too long.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Life is very short, and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it's a crime,
So i will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if i am right or i am wrong.
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we may fall apart before too long.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
 
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