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Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
ORAL HISTORY
From Page 10A
Ritter: We were all exhausted.
Marx: I remember being pretty
crushed. I cried on the way back to
the hotel.
Leutele: We were like there’s no
way that can happen again.
Leutele: I just remember the grit
in Jenny Ritter’s face. We were all
like, “If she’s gonna do that, who can
stop her?” I really think we rallied
around that belief.
Marx: We just decided the next
game that this was going to be our
shot, if it was going to be our last
game then we were going to give it
everything that we can.
Milian: I remember we watched
so much film on the other pitcher,
Tennessee’s Monica Abbott.
Hutchins: The other big dog.
Tholl:
A
really
intimidating
presence on the mound. And we just
didn’t have our offense in sync like
we did 60 games earlier.
Marx: You don’t go up against
Monica Abbott and think you’ve got
anything in the bag.
Bercaw: I remember Monica
Abbott. … You hear the stats and how
good they are. But the thing is, we
prepped for all of that.
Ritter: What’s amazing about
this team, though, was that when
you feel like we’re hitting a dead
end and there’s nothing we can do,
somebody comes through and that’s
how it’s been the entire season.
Ritter: Bercaw came through.
Marx: Bercaw hits the home run
— our first home run of the series — it
just gave us life. Oh yeah, this is who
we are, we can do this.
Ritter: All of a sudden there’s this
adrenaline in our veins.
In the bottom of the fourth inning,
Michigan was up 1-0 with two outs
and a runner on second. Bercaw sent
Abbott’s pitch over the fence for a two-
run home run. The blast proved to be
game-winning, as the Wolverines won
3-2.
Later that day, Michigan returned
to action, battling UCLA — the two-
time defending champions — in Game
1 of the World Series final.
Ritter: We went back to the hotel,
the idea was to rest and recover
and try to figure out what the heck
we were gonna do, because we
had never been in the World Series
championship before.
Hutchins: UCLA, they had been
sitting around for a day watching us,
and they got Ritter out early in the
game - as soon as we got behind we
took her out. She was tired.
Marx: We had nothing left in the
tank.
Milian: They scored right out of
the gate.
Ritter: To me, there was a little
bit of a let down, at least on my part,
that we made it, to be satisfied that
we just made it to the World Series
final. That was just a mental lapse in
my judgement of feeling like we’ve
done enough.
Milian: And we knew we could
beat them, it was just I think the
Tennessee games took something
out of us. We just needed to get some
rest and come back.
Michigan dropped the opening
game to UCLA, 5-0.
Hutchins: Game 2 we rested up
and told them, “Just play, don’t worry
about it, you’re rested now.”
Haas: We just kept doing what
we’ve been doing. We just wanted to
win a game.
Hutchins: We got behind in game
2, 2-0, in the fifth inning. I’m like,
“Wow, we’re not gonna score a run
in the championship series.” We
were the leading hitting team in the
country.
Merchant: Even when we were
down we didn’t panic, we didn’t give
up.
Findlay: When we got down we
didn’t get down on each other, we
picked each other up.
Merchant: Maybe it was being a
little bit naïve, a little bit young, and a
little bit too cocky, but no matter who
we were facing or what the situation
was, we thought we were going to
win.
The
Wolverines
were
staring
elimination in its face. With one out
and a runner on first, Marx stood in
the batters’ box.
Hutchins: And Becky Marx hit
her famous homer to tie it up.
Marx: When I hit it I didn’t even
know it went over. When Bonnie told
me at first it was over the fence … I
knew we were back in the game.
Bolstered by a Merchant two-run
double in the same inning, Michigan
went on to win Game 2, 5-2, setting up
a winner-take-all game the next night.
UCLA struck first with a solo home
run from first baseman Lisa Dodd. In
the sixth inning, the Wolverines finally
broke through when Findlay knocked
an RBI single into right field. The two
teams remained deadlocked into the
bottom of the ninth, when the Bruins
threatened to take the championship.
Designated player Kristen Dedmon
blooped a double and advanced to
third on a sacrifice bunt, putting the
winning run at third with just one out.
Ritter, the ace, stood in the circle.
Ritter: UCLA, all they have to do
is score that run. So I guarantee, they
were feeling pretty dang good.
Tholl: I only allowed myself to
do this for about 10-15 seconds, but I
remember looking out into right field
… and I was like “Wow, we were so
close. We came so close.”
Ritter: (Hutch) tells me to walk
the next two batters. … I hated it. I
still hate it, to this day.
Marx: It was not one of those
moments that I needed to calm her
down. I just needed to let her go.
Ritter: This is a moment where
we are 60 feet away from losing the
World Series and we want to win so
badly, so I just said, “OK, I’m going to
do this.’
Milian: It was just that mental
switch of “No, we’re going to do this.
We’re going to get out of this and get
to the next inning.”
Marx: She just would not let
anyone take this away from her. She
was gonna be the pitcher that got up
there and did it.
With the bases loaded, Ritter
induced an inning-ending ground
out from UCLA left fielder Ashley
Herrera to retire the threat, keeping
the season alive.
Tholl: That’s a huge momentum
shift. And it’s more of a momentum
shift
for
the
team
that
just
squandered the opportunity.
Ritter: But the game’s still going.
The Wolverines wasted little time
threatening in the top of the tenth,
as Haas reached on a fielding error
and freshman outfielder Alessandra
Giampaolo recorded an infield single.
The stage was set for Findlay, who
strode to the dish with the go-ahead
run in scoring position and two outs.
Ritter: The fact that they pitched
to Sam Findlay is still baffling to me.
Bercaw:
Anytime
that
Sam
would go up, you’d just kinda wait for
the big hit to happen.
Leutele: We all believed in Sam
so much in that moment. She’s gonna
do this.
Motycka: Do you think it’s going
to be a home run and something
so glorious? No, but you knew she
would make something happen.
Findlay: I liked pressure. … I
knew I wanted to be in that position
and I was confident.
Haas: I just kept on trying to
make eye contact with her, to give
her my energy.
Ritter: The whole team is up at
the railing, I’m in the back corner
literally focusing on nothing, just
hoping somebody gets a hit.
Findlay: I saw a good pitch and I
took a good swing and as soon as I hit
it, you just kinda knew.
Ritter: All of a sudden I hear the
crack of the bat, the team screaming,
the ball going over the fence and
I’m trying to figure out what just
happened.
Hutchins: I was just wishing it
over the fence. Get out, get out, get
out.
Merchant: I was praying that it
was going to go out.
Haas: I knew it was a bomb.
Tholl: I knew the moment it came
off the bat, it was going out of the
park.
Bercaw: It was a laser.
Marx: I just remember being like,
“I can’t believe they just pitched to
Sam Findlay. Of all the players in the
whole country, you just pitched to
Sam Findlay?” She just did what she
does.
Findlay: The
feeling
I
felt
rounding third base heading home to
see my teammates and seeing their
faces, that’s something I’ll never
forget.
Bercaw: It felt like a sealed-deal.
… The emotion of that was just
indescribable.
Findlay: To see how happy they
were, it gave us the confidence to
finish the bottom of that inning
knowing we would bring Michigan
the first softball championship.
Findlay: It’s a hit that forever
changed my life.
Hutchins: I immediately went
into, okay gotta keep them calm. You
know, we hadn’t won yet.
Ritter: I remember just talking to
myself, this isn’t over yet. You’ve got
to go out the same way you did every
inning and you’ve got to get three
more outs.
Tholl: Jennie Ritter was the
bulldog we needed in the circle. Not
once in that season had she fallen
apart, and I knew she wasn’t going to
do that in the brightest moment.
Tholl: In the biggest moment of
the season, she was going to be our
rock.
Hutchins: It worked out, it all
worked out.
In charge of preserving the three-
run cushion, Ritter retired two of the
first three batters she faced, the lone
baserunner reaching on a fielding
error. With Michigan one out away,
Dedmon lifted a towering fly ball to
the left-side of the infield.
Ritter: When that pop up came
and I saw Merchant catch it, my first
reaction … was thank god it’s over.
Bercaw: I was out in right field,
so I was always the last to get in.
Everybody else is already celebrating
by the time I reach the infield.
Just heart-pumping, raw emotions
everywhere.
Marx: Everyone was crying.
Bercaw: I just wanted to run
in and hug somebody, jump and
celebrate together. It was awesome.
Haas: It’s the best day of our lives.
And the celebration, it didn’t end.
The
2005
team
became
the
first program located east of the
Mississippi River to win the women’s
softball College World Series, which
began in 1982. It’s the only national
title in Michigan softball’s 42-year
history.
Hutchins: A championship, it’s
something that no (other) Michigan
team has.
Tholl: Michigan winning the
national championship gave hope to
the rest of the country.
Leutele: I think it changed
everything.
Tholl: It legitimized every athlete
who played softball outside of the
West Coast, and so I think that was
our legacy.
Ritter: It’s no longer a West Coast
sport. We’re a cold weather school,
up in the north playing on the road
and practicing inside for our first 35
games or so, yet we can still compete
at that level.
Hutchins: I think it did open up
the doors for a lot of people to say we
can do this.
Merchant: It gave sixth graders
in Michigan hope that they could
compete at the highest level, whether
it be at the University of Michigan or
for any cold weather team.
Ritter: Make kids everywhere
believe that this is possible, that they
don’t just have to be in the West or in
Florida and have a chance to play all
the time to win. It’s a big deal for our
sport.
Bercaw: I’m from a small town in
Ohio. There was a family of kids from
my hometown, they drove up to the
World Series. … Situations like that,
you could just see how it inspired
girls. It doesn’t matter where you’re
from or where you go, you can reach
any level that you set out to reach.
Leutele: I was from Arizona, so as
a child who had softball aspiration, I
should have wanted to stay in the Pac-
10. ... I think other student athletes
really realized that, wait a minute, I
can go to another university and we
can create a culture of that and really
believe in it and not be afraid.
Hutchins: There’s no question
that people have always noted to me
how (the championship) changed
the landscape. But we were never out
to change the landscape. We were
out to put Michigan on the map.
Ritter: This is a team that you
find once in a lifetime. You want me
to rank the teams that I’ve been on,
USA and everything, the chemistry
that energy that we had, nothing
compares to this team. I don’t think
anybody could’ve beaten us that
year.
... I truly in my heart believe that
we were unbeatable.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Athletics