Leading at 3rd
She finished the season second on the team with a .292 batting average, 10 doubles, 24 RBIs and 49 hits. She started at third base in all 57 contests and only struck out 10 times in 168 at-bats. Not bad for a freshman softball player.
Then again, Stephanie Vasarhely isn’t your typical player. Just ask USU head coach Pam McCreesh.
“Her work ethic is second to none,” she said. “She hates to lose. She plays with fire in her eyes.”
After all the success in her first season as an Aggie – she was also an honorable mention all-Big West Conference Selection – Vasarhely knows she won’t have the luxury of sneaking up on the opponent this year.
As a freshman, Vasarhely batted in front of first baseman Sandy Taylor, the BWC Co-Fielder Player of the Year. Batting in front of Taylor allowed her to play loose because she knew Taylor was there to carry the load, she said. With Taylor lost to graduation, she said she knows the pressure will be on.
“If I didn’t get a hit, I knew that Sandy would,” Vasarhely said. “I think I have put more pressure on myself to get the job done [this year].”
On the other hand, McCreesh said playing in front of a player like Taylor would have been too much pressure for most players to handle. Vasarhely’s ability to handle the pressure, especially as a freshman, made her season even more remarkable, McCreesh said.
“She didn’t succumb to any of the pressure,” she said.
Despite getting off to a slow start at the plate this season, Vasarhely has been a rock for the Aggies at third base. Mid-season now, she has committed a paltry two errors and has a fielding percentage of .972. Perhaps most important, she said, is she can always rely on her fielding ability, regardless of how she’s doing at the plate.
Success in athletics is nothing new for the Pinole, Calif., native. As a senior at Salesian High School, Vasarhely was the school’s top tennis player and an all-league soccer player, in addition to batting a whopping .585 for the softball team. As a result of her athletic accomplishments, she was named one of the top-50 female athletes in the East Bay area.
While the athletic accolades have been satisfying, Vasarhely said the other benefits of playing softball help put the athletic achievements in perspective. She said softball has helped her become a leader, be assertive and learn to bounce back from adversity.
“Softball is sort of like life,” Vasarhely said. “They relate because there’s a lot of failure in softball, and it helps keep you motivated to push on.”
Although she is confident in her abilities, Vasarhely said she won’t allow herself to get caught up in the hype. While she was a dominant force as a high school player, she realizes college softball is a whole new challenge, she said.
“You can tell that college softball is totally different from high school,” she said. “The caliber of play is so much better [in college].”
When asked what she hoped to accomplish during the course of her college career, Vasarhely said becoming close to her teammates, being a leader and playing to her ability outweigh any physical accomplishments. Being a good leader, when put into the proper perspective, makes being an MVP look meaningless, she said.
“I just want to live up to what I know I can do,” she said. “It’s so frustrating when you know that you can do something and aren’t doing it.”
“It’s good to be recognized as one of the leaders of the team,” she said.
Though it’s uncertain how the softball season will unfold for the Aggies, McCreesh knows they can count on Vasarhely to give it her all.
“You can’t teach hustle; you can’t teach game sense,” McCreesh said. “She just plays hard day in and day out.”