6A — Thursday, April 9, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘Silent Assassin’ does the little things
Sierra Lawrence
gets the job done
in ways that aren’t
always obvious
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
It all started Sierra Lawrence’s
freshman year. She would get
to second base, and Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins would get
ready to tell her to steal third.
But by the time she looked up,
Lawrence was in full stride, if
not already at the bag. That was
the beginning of the now-junior
centerfielder’s unique alter ego,
“The Silent Assassin.”
The sports world sees its fair
share of nicknames — some
serious, others absurd.
Reggie Jackson became “Mr.
October” after he hit three
home runs on three consecutive
pitches in Game 6 of the 1977
World Series. More recently,
former Michigan guard Nik
Stauskas picked up the alias
of “Sauce Castillo” by way of a
closed-captioning error.
Clearly, the Michigan softball
team is no exception to the
nickname phenomenon.
The name fits Lawrence’s
game well. She’s undoubtedly
one of the Wolverines’ top
players, ranking third in runs
scored, home runs and runs
batted in.
But
Lawrence’s
most
significant contributions have
flown under the radar. Hutchins
revealed that her baserunning
ability makes her a significant
threat
deserving
of
the
nickname, not the home runs
and RBI.
“Her first year, every time I’d
look up, she’d be on third base,”
Hutchins said. “She would just
show up (at third). Before I had
a chance to send her, she was
already standing there. So I
nicknamed her that because she
is as good a base runner as I’ve
ever had. She has great instincts
(and) she has a tremendous first
step.”
Added
freshman
catcher
Aidan Falk: “She’s so fast, and
nobody realizes that. And she’s
unbelievably
strong.
Those
two combinations (make her) a
lethal player.”
Lawrence has been placed at
the leadoff spot in the batting
order for the majority of the
season, largely due to her agility
on the base paths. Hutchins
explained
that
she
has
an
incredible ability to set the game’s
tone early and to get on base by
beating out infield singles.
So far this season, Lawrence
has posted 18 stolen bases on
19 attempts, ranking first and
fourth in the category for the
Wolverines and the Big Ten,
respectively.
“When I get on base, I just
want to score,” Lawrence said.
“So any opportunity I have to
take a base, I take it. It’s always
come naturally (to me) to be
aggressive on the bases.”
Yet Lawrence’s intangibles
often don’t receive recognition.
Usually, that is reserved for the
home-.run hitter or the pitching
ace.
But
that
doesn’t bother
her. She leaves
that
for
her
teammates,
embracing
a
leadership role
for
Michigan
instead.
In
an
inexperienced
outfield,
Lawrence
is
the
only starting player to return
to the lineup from the 2014
season after the Wolverines
graduated Lyndsay Doyle and
Nicole Sappingfield. It’s clear
that junior right fielder Kelsey
Susalla and sophomore left
fielder Kelly Christner have
benefited tremendously from
the experience of “The Silent
Assassin” in the outfield.
“(She has taught me to have)
confidence,”
said
freshman
infielder Amanda Vargas. “She
plays with a sense of swagger.
All
players
can tell that
she’s
really
confident. She
knows
what
she’s
doing,
and
even
if
she’s having a
rough
game,
you know the
next
game
she’s going to
be fine.”
Lawrence’s long tenure in the
outfield has paid dividends for
the Wolverines on the defensive
end. She knows where the ball
is going before batters can even
make contact, and she reads
fly balls with ease, a skill that
has led her to boast a flawless
fielding percentage.
Lawrence’s
innate
ability
to judge the ball off the bat,
in
combination
with
very
impressive arm strength, often
turns opposing teams’ would-be
doubles into singles.
She continues to produce the
numbers that the fans may not
care about, but as she has aged,
the stats that fans look for have
improved as well. Lawrence has
already matched her 2014 home
run total, sending nine balls out
of the park thus far. And she
is 21 RBI away from matching
her 2014 total in the respective
category.
But she has not wavered
in
showing
that
she
will
consistently trade the highlight-
reel play for a tally in the win
column.
So
while
the
opposing
pitchers and fielders focus on
stopping Michigan’s headliners,
look for Lawrence to do what
she does best: slip through their
gazes yet again, and strike like a
silent assassin.
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Junior centerfielder Sierra Lawrence has stolen 18 bases in 19 attempts this season. She ranks first and fourth in the category for Michigan and the Big Ten, respectively.
“Before I had a
chance to send her,
she was already
standing there.”