11
Thursday, August 9, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
All good for Rodriguez
JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer
In the muggy fields of central
Florida, Roberto Rodriguez takes
his three kids to their impromptu
training ground.
Up the hill. Next.
Up the hill. Next.
Up the hill.
The
three
future
collegiate
ballplayers sprint up the hill adjacent
to their Monteverde home in a test
of endurance. Next come the agility
and speed drills as Roberto times and
tracks the progress of his athletes.
Eventually the drills transition to
the diamond behind their local
church, where the focus switches
from building endurance and speed
to improving fielding, hitting and IQ.
Roberto would create a scenario:
runners on first and third, one out.
The ball is hit to you. What do you
do?
It was this intensity and attention
to detail on the familiar diamond
that prepared his players for the
bigger and unpredictable stages that
were ahead.
Natalia Rodriguez is the youngest
and the smallest of the three, but
from as early as the age of five,
she was matching her two older
brothers, stride for stride, drill
for drill. Through this gauntlet of
exercises, her competitive nature
was born.
Rodriguez comes from a baseball
family. Her father played baseball
growing up and coached all three
of his children. Her mother, Iris,
played softball at Yale, and her
two brothers, Roberto and Sergio,
played at Georgetown and Amherst,
respectively.
As the youngest of three, she
credits having her two older brothers
as role models and motivators for the
level of competitiveness that she now
exhibits.
“It built up my competitiveness,”
Rodriguez said. “Just going out there
trying to be better than the boys.”
Whether
it
was
organized
drills with her father or a friendly
exhibition game, she refused to give
her brothers the edge despite any
disadvantage she had physically. It is
the mentality she had as a child and
one that she carries with her to this
day.
***
It is easy to mistake physical
appearance for ability. Picture the
selection process that takes place
before a pickup game:
The
most
physically
gifted
athletes are selected first. Who gets
picked last? Well, the least imposing
players, of course.
If
you
were
to
categorize
Rodriguez amongst other softball
players, she would likely fall in the
latter.
Listed at five-foot four, Rodriguez
is notably one of the smallest players
on the field for the Wolverines. But
petite stature is no new foe for her.
In the seventh grade, Rodriguez
was playing for her high school team
at Montverde Academy. She was told
that she wasn’t big enough or strong
enough to be a shortstop, so she
acquiescently made the move to the
outfield.
“She didn’t want to settle for
being the littlest one the team,”
Roberto said. “She wanted to prove
she could be just as good as anyone
else. She was always driven, always
motivated.
“ … I told her to just keep being the
best player you can be wherever they
put you.”
And that is exactly what she did.
During her time at Montverde
Academy, Rodriguez went on to set
every offensive school record and
earn numerous awards. She batted
.506 as a junior and led her team to
the state championship game. She
was the defensive MVP at shortstop
during her sophomore season and
the team MVP in her junior and
senior seasons. In her senior season,
she was also named the Montverde
Academy 2017 Female Scholar of the
Year.
“I just went out there and working
with the team, it was just about
getting better,” Rodriguez said. “It
was a … program that pushed us
and we weren’t –– we grew a lot,
definitely, since I started playing
there in middle school.”
Despite initially being moved
to the outfield in high school, she
remained in the middle infield for
her travel team, where Roberto
coached her from the time she was
nine until she was 16.
When she was 10, her team
finished in second at the USSSA/
ESPN
10U
World
Series,
and
Rodriguez earned defensive MVP
honors at shortstop. Three years
later, her team would win the 2012
USSSA/ESPN High School World
Series 16U A Championship –– a
moment Rodriguez considers the
biggest of her playing career.
“I was playing with a couple girls
that I had played with for over four
or five years,” Rodriguez said, “So
it was with really close friends of
mine, and it was in Florida –– Wide
World of Sports. It was just a great
atmosphere and I think it was just
my first big win, so that was pretty
big for me.”
In
the
summer
before
her
freshman campaign, along with
two of her teammates from the 16U
World Series squad, she represented
the Puerto Rican Junior National
Team, helping her grandparents’
native country to a bronze-medal
finish in the 2017 Junior Women’s
Softball World Championship.
“It’s always great to represent
your nationality,” Rodriguez said.
“It was a lot of fun. You meet a lot
of girls from the island… And it also
allowed me to work on my bilingual
skills.”
The three of them — who were
the youngest players on that world
series squad — teamed up one more
time to compete against countries
from around the world for the
international tournament in their
home state of Florida.
When it came time to be recruited,
Rodriguez received offers from
several schools around the country,
ranging from east coast Ivies to PAC-
12 schools. But it wasn’t until her
junior year that she received an offer
from the school she felt was the best
fit.
“After I got the offer from
Michigan, I didn’t let anyone else
get a chance to be quite honest,”
Rodriguez said.
As the Wolverines said goodbye
to their switch-hitting shortstop
and four-year starter Abby Ramirez
at the end of the 2017 season, they
welcomed in another switch-hitting
shortstop in Rodriguez.
In spite of being small and
frequently overlooked, Rodriguez
has remained confident in her
abilities. Or, as her father likes to
put it, like “a little silent assassin.”
But make no mistake, this quiet
confidence is often infused with an
energizing swagger.
In the clubhouse, she has the
reputation as the player with
the most “swag” as some of her
teammates have put it.
“I think it’s really just me having
fun –– it’s being me. I like to dance a
little bit. I think they’re referring to a
little juju, shoulder lean…its nothing
crazy… just make people laugh and
get everyone involved.”
The
dancing
simultaneously
keeps her teammates grounded and
her swagger-level sky high.
From a young age, she showed
her dedication to the game and the
desire to constantly improve. It takes
this sort of approach to the game
to remain passionate and hungry.
Some athletes eventually fall out of
love with the game, burnt out from
the years of dedication. But not
Rodriguez.
“Can’t say (quitting softball)
crossed my mind,” Rodriguez said.
From the diamonds of Montverde,
Fla. to Ann Arbor, Mich., Rodriguez
has found her way to always enjoy
the game.
***
Last
season,
fans
became
accustomed to seeing the slick-
fielding
freshman
ranging
the shortstop position for the
Wolverines. She has become a
staple of the Michigan defense
— which ranked first in the Big
Ten and second in the nation in
fielding percentage through the
end of the regular season. But she
wasn’t supposed to be the starting
shortstop. Sophomore third baseman
Madison Uden was slated as the
likely candidate be the everyday
shortstop by coach Carol Hutchins.
In the fall, the coaching staff noted
how talented the freshman could be,
but it was junior second baseman
Faith Canfield who saw Rodriguez’s
potential and vouched for her to get
the nod next to her in the infield to
begin the season.
“I think (Canfield)’s the one kid
in our program that thought Natalia
was the one to go to shortstop,”
Hutchins said. “She, from the get-go,
recognized what a talent Natalia is.”
Canfield took on a mentor role
last season with Natalia as they
partnered in the middle infield.
“That’s one thing with Natalia is
just that she believes in herself and
knows that she knows how to play
the game,” Canfield said.
Rodriguez forced Hutchins’ hand,
expediting what was supposed to be
a year more for development and
less for playing time. But it was the
work ethic and passion for the game
that her coach and teammates saw in
her which gave her the opportunity
to be the starting shortstop –– a
work ethic and passion that can be
accredited to her family.
On and off the field, her demeanor
doesn’t change much: calm, cool and
collected with a hint of swagger and
a wide-eyed grin crossing her face.
“I just tell her to smile and have
fun while you’re out there,” Roberto
said. “... Nothing but good will come
out of it.”
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
Freshman shortstop Natalia Rodriguez comes from a baseball and softball family, which has given her to drive to succeed.