12
Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
After waiting her turn, Canfield shines as a leader for ‘M’
On the brink of elimination,
tensions ran high in the Michigan
softball team’s dugout. In the
on-deck circle, Faith Canfield was
as relaxed as ever.
Trailing by a pair of runs in the
seventh inning of the deciding
game in the 2017 NCAA Regional,
the 20th-ranked Wolverines found
themselves desperate for offense
on the road against No. 6 seed
Washington. Just three outs stood
between Michigan and the demise
of its season.
Damp clumps of dirt broke free
from junior right fielder Aidan
Falk’s cleats as she trekked across
the dugout to retrieve her bat. As
Falk warmed up to lead off the
Wolverines’ final chance to salvage
the season, Canfield — a sophomore
at that point — grabbed her by the
arm.
“I don’t care what you do, just
go have one hell of an at-bat,”
Falk recalled Canfield telling her,
“because this is your last one and it’s
the one you’re going to remember
most.”
Falk took the words to heart. Two
pitches into her plate appearance,
she laced a single up the middle to
ignite Michigan’s comeback bid.
“There was a lot on the line,” Falk
told The Daily in a phone interview
last month. “(Canfield) took it as
her time to be like, ‘You should
be proud of what you’ve done.
Enjoy it.’ She’s not one to be overly
emotional or cozy, but when she
does show you that side of her, it’s
very meaningful.”
Some players stand up on a
chair and berate a locker room of
teammates. Canfield is not one of
them — instead, she’s often a soft-
spoken leader who emphasizes
living in the moment. Her attitude
epitomizes the fact that leadership
comes in many forms.
Canfield sees the game through
a different lens, one which has
fostered a unique college career
brimming with memories such as
Falk’s. Canfield naturally focuses on
the human side of softball — a trait
which has become increasingly rare
in a game driven by analytics.
Though the Wolverines fell short
on that ill-fated Seattle afternoon,
Canfield’s style of leadership is
invaluable.
With top-seeded Michigan —
this season’s outright conference
champion — set to take the field
in
the
Big
Ten
Tournament
quarterfinals on Friday, the final
month of Canfield’s storied career
has arrived. And with a solid
showing in this week’s Big Ten
Tournament, the Wolverines could
earn the right to host an NCAA
Regional of their own.
For Canfield, a much-anticipated
climax has taken shape. In the next
month, she could lead Michigan
back to the Women’s College World
Series for the first time since her
freshman season. Or, as they’ve done
the last two seasons, the Wolverines
may
fall
in
the
conference
tournament quarterfinals and fail to
survive the NCAA Regional.
Regardless of how May unfolds,
Canfield is going to stay true to
her own style of leadership. So far,
it’s made all the difference in her
memorable Michigan tenure.
***
It might’ve been on the practice
field. It could’ve been in the locker
room afterwards. Abby Ramirez
doesn’t remember the exact moment
it hit her, but she’ll never forget her
takeaway from the first practice of
Canfield’s freshman season.
“This girl is for real,” Ramirez
remembered thinking.
When Canfield got to campus
in the fall of 2015, she began her
career ahead of the curve. Ramirez
— a two-time All-Big Ten shortstop
who graduated in 2017 — recalled
being impressed with her noticeable
confidence and natural instincts
from day one.
As a college freshman, Canfield
put her decorated high school and
travel ball careers behind her. She
watched her sister Jamie succeed
as an All-Big 12 catcher at Nebraska
from 2004-2007, but still admittedly
felt the pressure of walking into
a program that finished as the
national runner-up a mere three
months earlier.
On top of the transition to a new
level, Canfield found herself thrown
for a loop by a slight position change.
She claims to “love defense,” so her
role as the team’s designated player
in 2016 meant spending most of the
season without her beloved glove.
“Coming in freshman year, it was
a different role that I totally wasn’t
used to,” Canfield said. “But I was
all for it. I did whatever the team
needed.”
The college level brought about
its own challenges, and Ramirez
had the pleasure of watching
Canfield improve firsthand. As
middle infielders, their position
groups often trained together.
Only a few practices into the
preseason, the Wolverines arranged
a fall scrimmage in East Lansing.
There, Canfield stepped into the
batter’s box for her first college
at-bat. As she walked up to the plate,
she gazed at the field, the desolate
bleachers
and
the
clamoring
dugouts. So, this was college softball
— the daunting, preeminent world
of its own to which she looked
forward for so many years.
Canfield wasted no time getting
her feet wet. Just a few pitches into
her plate appearance, she uncorked
a powerful swing. When the ball
landed on the other side of the
outfield wall, she began her home
run trot — the first of many to come.
For Canfield, that trot took the
world off her shoulders. It reminded
her that she was still playing the
same game she excelled at her whole
life. According to Ramirez, it taught
Canfield not to make too big a deal
out of the new level.
After her mindset fell into place,
the rest of her game followed suit.
“(Canfield’s) realization that she
had so much potential and that she
is such a good player was huge,”
Falk said. “Once she became aware
of that, it allowed her to help her
teammates rise up, too. As a player,
making your teammates around you
better is one of the best qualities you
can have. She made the team better
as a whole.
“She’s very mature. I was very
impressed with the way she played.
She didn’t play like a freshman. She
played like a seasoned player at the
plate and on the field.”
After shedding the misconception
that the college level would be
drastically different from high
school or travel ball, Canfield came
into her own. Everyone on the field
took notice.
So, this was college softball.
***
Unlike
most
top
recruits,
Canfield’s name wasn’t initially
on the starting lineup card in
2016. Little did she know, the role
that awaited her would be just as
beneficial in the long run.
Now
in
her
35th
season,
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
knows a starter when she sees
one. To this day, Hutchins believes
Canfield could’ve cracked almost
any starting lineup in the country as
a freshman. But for the Wolverines,
there was no doubt that then-senior
and eventual National Player of the
Year Sierra Romero would be the
starting second baseman during
Canfield’s first season.
“There’s no one better to play
behind,” Canfield said. “Nobody’s
going to beat out Sierra Romero, but
I was working that hard everyday to
try.”
Even so, Canfield worked her
way into the lineup. According
to Ramirez, she began her career
ahead of the curve. It was an open
secret that she’d be the heir to
Romero’s throne at second base the
following season, but Canfield still
started 33 of the team’s 59 games as
a freshman — 22 as the designated
player, eight at third base and three
at second base.
Canfield
seized
the
chance
to spend a year learning under
Romero. Each day of practice
provided a new opportunity to
learn from the best, and, as a result,
Romero took her under her wing.
That season, Romero posted a .451
batting average and 79 RBI en route
to 2016 National Player of the Year
honors. Canfield diligently watched
every moment of it.
Read more on MichiganDaily.com
Senior captain Faith Canfield has come into her own as a leader on and off the softball field.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior second baseman Faith Canfield has put up a career-best .406 batting average this season.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer