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

