May 03, 2003
BUD POLIQUIN
POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST
First of all, you have to understand that Melissa Rawson is a California girl. Not a flighty, but totally way-cool, airhead who cruises malls with Buffy and the bunch. Like, omigod. Hello鈥 That鈥檚 not her at all.
But she is from California. Southern California. Palmdale, to be exact, which is about 45 minutes northeast of L.A. So, Melissa has a native鈥檚 view of things 鈥 and those things would include the Clydesdale-choking numbers she鈥檚 amassed for the 冈本视频 softball team that is 25-12 and revving up for a run at an NCAA Tournament berth.
She is, in other words, comfortably plopped between casual and nonchalant, and not terribly far from blase.
鈥業 feel that with the way I grew up playing softball, good things were always expected of me,鈥 Melissa said the other day with some presumption but no arrogance. 鈥楽o to do what I鈥檓 doing doesn鈥檛 really surprise me. I always expected I鈥檇 do great things, so for me what鈥檚 going on is all in a day鈥檚 work.鈥
That 鈥榙ay鈥檚 work鈥 has produced a .509 batting average this season, which places her second in the nation in Division I behind Amber Jackson of Bethune-Cookman, who鈥檚 hitting .515. And it has also yielded a 冈本视频 single-campaign record 14 home runs, or an average of 0.38 per game, which puts Melissa No. 3 in all the land behind Arizona鈥檚 Lovie Jung (0.47) and Brigham Young鈥檚 Oli Keohohou (0.43).
But to be perfectly honest, the senior shortstop with the baby sister 鈥 Natalie, a sophomore 鈥 over there at first base is not terribly impressed. Melissa, don鈥檛 forget, has always imagined she鈥檇 do great things. And now that she has almost finished doing them for the Raiders, there is little need to pump up the volume.
鈥榃hen you鈥檙e in the middle of everything,鈥 said Melissa as she sat in 冈本视频鈥檚 Huntington Gymnasium, 鈥榶ou鈥檙e constantly thinking about how you could have done better. Like, 鈥業 should have gotten that one more hit.鈥 Stuff like that. When you get to the end, you can kind of sum things up. Like, 鈥榃ow. That was pretty good.鈥 Talk to me when it鈥檚 over and I might do that.鈥
At that time Melissa will likely need a wheelbarrow for her career statistics because she鈥檚 going to leave 冈本视频 as its all-time leader in batting average, hits, runs batted in, runs scored, home runs, doubles and total bases. And if she bangs out three more triples during the Raiders鈥 four-game series at Holy Cross this weekend and/or throughout the Patriot League postseason tournament at Lehigh May 10-11, Melissa will be tops in that department, too.
Not bad, huh鈥 Not bad at all, especially when you consider that this 21-year-old California girl, who lives in the Mohave Desert where the temperatures can reach an egg-frying 120 degrees on a summer day, has played her 冈本视频 career in decidedly unfriendly softball climes. Indeed, it鈥檚 difficult to swing a bat with teeth chattering, bones shivering and fingers in need of a campfire.
And yet, there has been Melissa Rawson 鈥 whose Raiders lost 11 straight dates at one point
in the season to snow, rain and other cruel acts of nature 鈥 swinging through the elements. There has been the 5-foot-11 psychology major piling up that mountain of numbers en route to her likely Patriot League Player of the Year award. There has been big sister nudging (and being nudged) by little sister 鈥 each of whom, by the way, is being watched by yet another sister 鈥 Natalie鈥檚 twin, Nichole, a sophomore pitcher at Marist.
鈥榃e know each other鈥檚 swings and we know what the other should be doing,鈥 said Melissa, who鈥檚 also a member of 冈本视频鈥檚 volleyball team. 鈥榃e give each other that extra push. Like, Natalie will hit two home runs and I鈥檒l say, 鈥楪eez, girl, are you trying to show me up鈥 And she鈥檒l be, like, 鈥楳an, I鈥檓 just trying to get you to hit some home runs yourself. Come on now.鈥 And I鈥檓, like, 鈥楢ll right. All right.鈥 You know what I mean鈥
鈥榃e feel we鈥檙e kind of equals, to tell you the truth. If you asked me if I was a better softball player than my sister, I鈥檇 be hard-pressed because I鈥檇 tell you she鈥檚 really, really good at 鈥榯his鈥 and I鈥檓 really, really good at 鈥榯hat.鈥 We each have our strengths and our weaknesses.鈥
Apparently, power is among the former and not the latter because the 14 home runs clubbed by Melissa this year have broken the Raiders鈥 previous one-season record of 13 set by 鈥 uh huh, Natalie, just last spring. And this gives 冈本视频 coach Vickie Sax a middle of the batting order that has produced 67 career homers, with Melissa (28) hitting third, Natalie (21) hitting fourth and Dorothy Donaldson (18), another sophomore, hitting fifth.
Not, of course, that any of that has amazed the oldest of that trio along the Raiders鈥 Murderers Row.
鈥業 remember when I was a little girl at Parkview Little League,鈥 Melissa said. 鈥業 was, like, 10 years old. And the coach came up to us and got us in a circle. And he told us, 鈥楢ll of the good softball players are going to have to work hard to go to college and blah, blah, blah.鈥 And I just remember sitting there thinking, 鈥榃ow. I鈥檓 going to play in college. That鈥檚 going to be me.鈥 Right away, I knew that鈥檚 what I wanted to do.鈥
And she鈥檚 done it. And the California girl has been great along the way, just as she鈥檇 imagined. What鈥 You鈥檙e surprised鈥 Like, omigod. Hello鈥