 By Ethen Lieser
For high school softball players, the dream of donning a UCLA Bruins uniform is like playing catch in Yankees pinstripes or shooting jumpers in a Celtics jersey. It is a dream that is realized by only a select few. In Claire Sua’s case, she is a Bruin because she can rip a softball in half.
As a freshman first baseman this year, Sua quickly became a mainstay in the Bruins lineup, though to achieve something like that is as difficult as a tiny lion cub getting her share of a kill. However, the 5-foot-8 power hitter possesses a vicious right-handed swing, which produced 10 home runs, 56 RBI and a .380 average, third on the team. To fork out those veteran-like numbers, Sua didn’t just lie on the sunny beaches of Los Angeles when she first arrived on campus last fall. Instead, she sweated and cramped like a lumberjack, refining her sweet swing.
It was in Cooper City, Fla., where she started to refine that swing — at age four. Sua got her first lick of softball when she followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Seilala, who became a four-time NCAA Champion discus thrower for UCLA from 1997-2000 and was a U.S. Olympian in discus in Sydney. “I kind of did the little sister thing and tagged along,” says Sua, who was a four-time state Player of the Year and Miss Florida Softball as a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. While it’s obvious Sua has some athletic genes in her blood, she is still thankful for her parents’ roles in helping her get to where she is today. Sua’s father taught her the intricacies of the game, while her mother gave her loving support through failure and slumps. “They were such a big factor in me playing softball,” Sua says. And UCLA is counting their blessings.
“It was an instant fit when [head coach] Sue Enquist went to Florida and visited with Claire and her family after following her for several years,” UCLA assistant coach Kelly Inouye-Perez says. “She was definitely a Bruin.”
Says Sua, who visited three other schools closer to her home on the East Coast: “Academically and athletically, it is so strong, so UCLA was always my first choice.”
Now, at 19, Sua is on the opposite coast. And the first thing she worried about when she came to Tinsletown wasn’t if she had enough designer wardrobes. It was all about digging her cleats in the batter’s box at Easton Stadium and putting dents on the outfield wall. More importantly, Sua had to learn how to hit against the best college pitchers in the nation, though she could have hit with her eyes closed in high school, where she put up almost ridiculous numbers — a .474 average with 27 home runs. She was also a standout pitcher, posting a 48-4 record, 534 strikeouts and a miniscule 0.36 ERA. But as a Division I hitter, Sua now had to deal with change-ups, which are seen as a weakness for many power hitters, on 3-and-1 counts and movements that she only saw with X-Wing fighters on Star Wars.
“She made a tremendous step from not only jumping into college ball, but being able to make the transition from playing in Florida where she is not able to see the most competitive pitching year around,” Inouye-Perez says. “But then to jump into the Pac-10 and be successful is a credit to how hard she worked in the fall. And she showed how strong she was in preseason when she hit some home runs.”
Like a row of dominoes toppling over, Sua’s success also turned into the Bruins’ success. With Sua smoldering pitchers in the five-hole, behind All-American Stacey Nuveman, UCLA finished with a 62-6 record and a No.2 national ranking. But the last of those six losses was the most difficult to swallow for Sua, as Arizona handed UCLA a 1-0 defeat in the national championship game.
“It hurts that we didn’t come out with the ultimate goal, which was to win the national championship,” Sua says. “But personally, as a first-year player, I learned a lot about the game of softball and what it means to be a student-athlete. Obviously it would have been better if I got the ring, but I have three more years left to get one.”
However, the College World Series was an experience Sua won’t soon forget. Countless players from across the nation graduate without even getting a finger-scratch-sniff of the World Series. But Sua, as a freshman, has already experienced the pinnacle of her sport.
“That’s what you work and play for all your life,” Sua says. “The whole time I was there, it was unreal. When you’re younger, you watch the College World Series on television, and you just want to be there. Then when I was there, it was almost overwhelming because I’m actually there in a UCLA Bruins uniform.”
Though it has been a dream season for Sua, she isn’t about to relax anytime soon. She is already thinking about next year, and the prospect of actually winning the College World Series. “I have always been able to deal with failure,” says Sua, who fought through a minor hitting slump midway through the season. And she deals with it like any great athlete — work ethic.
“The work and training that goes into playing softball here is more than what anybody could imagine unless they come here,” Sua says. “But I love it so much.”
With that attitude, it’s almost frightening what kind of numbers she will post next year.
Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com. |
