Friday, February 12, 1988/The Battalion/Page 11
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S e 'ierate II
CAA-champion A&M softball team
ade up of ‘average’ Aggie students
By Hal. L. Hammons
Assistant Sports Editor
Club, IVf i;|
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() rk on <. _
e may Part two of a two-part series
3Ut wo
ue as niiitii^^. ■ I.
^rne Heightley is a completely
al Texas A&M student.
Bie’s a Recreation and Parks ma-
) n ™ me ffijjwith travel and tourism em-
’ l ‘ le AlUfigsis. She’s taking 15 hours worth
if classes. She hates studying for
Bi. She even goes to the Dixie
Kken.
Ill in all, a totally average girl. Ex-
ffjtinone aspect.
™ rrie Heightley is a softball
[er. She is a three-year veteran of
h Bob Brock’s brand of ball at
1. And she is one of 11 or 12
1 students — all softball players
what we
; ays. "Since J
se. we lce«|
a bad yejtj
sometliii
imewehaiti
it to remit]
y budget
lips andi
just an
|fornrier players — who can call
pselves national champions in a
jity sport.
devotes about two hours ev-
fternoon to a sport she will have
ve up after next year. Actually,
isajcatcher she has to work with the
tinentfur.phers for an extra hour every day.
ch sprint I it’s not all that exciting,
t in Feb' j Take Thursday for example. She
s up with the team on the
hh floor of the Read Building
workouts. (It’s too cold for out-
k practice.)
Ihe and 1 1 other women jog
nd a basketball court for five
utes. Then they stretch for 10
sprint for five more. Then she
s up with Zina Ochoa and Re-
Blaha for ground-ball drills,
e fields 25 grounders from Re-
and throws to Zina. Then she
es 25. Then she hits 25. Then
Felds 25....
fWhy?
phat’s what I like to do,” Carrie
lains. “I like the game, I like the
Ipetition, I like being ori the
in.
I’ve done really bad in classes be-
luseofthat. You’ve just got to want
|o it. You find time to do what
[want to do.”
makes the committment
)ld anyoiK
chance to
;e from l :
at to given!
Photo by Gary Bean
A&M’s Carrie Heightley gets ready for practice Thursday afternoon
as Coach Bob Brock stands in the background. Brock has called the
A&M junior “probably the best catcher in the nation.” »
me, saic
a labv l'l nc * negative, like something she
jildmgfriuld avoid if her mind would allow
, ta j rs | ( ber. Something she has to psych her-
ke again.' I
anager of
tore, whe
red on
le when
ie Octolx
disc all ok
self up for, or else her other wants
and needs will override her love for
the game.
“It’s a habit,” she says. “It’s a habit
to come out and play every single
day. You feel horrible, but you come
out here. It’s a chore to put in two to
two-and-a-half hours per day.”
But the chore is necessary to
achieve the desired results come
gametime — Gospel According to
Brock. s
Thursday Brock made it clear
once again to the team that warm-up
time is not relaxation time. Fun with
the team ends when work starts, and
it begins again immediately af
terward.
And practice is work — make no
mistake. There’s a lot of chatter be
tween the players, but it’s all in the
off burf'
Angeles
caused b r(
jhoneeip
circuiis'K
for se«
Pacific ft
1 tUifi:
This Vdentines Message
Comes Straight Fromlhe Heart.
We cordially invite you and your
Valentine to celebrate this Sunday
at El Chico.
But save room for dessert.
Because with eveiy double order
of fajitas, a generous piece of
our special Mexican Apple
Pie is yours free. But only
after we sizzle it in Mexican brandy
and butter, and top it off with a scoop
of ice cream.
With a deal this sweet, we hope
you’ll make plans to come celebrate
Valentine’s Day with us.
In fact, you might say we
have our hearts set on it.
-EL CHICO:
t SINC t 1 9 3 9 V
3109 S. Texas Ave.
Next to Manor East Mall
inter good February 14. 1988 pnly.
area of encouragement. The focus is
making the practice as close as possi
ble to the real thing.
“When you’re into it in practice,
you know you’ll be into it in the
game,” Carrie says. And she’s con
vinced that four months of the one
without any of the other will make
the team stronger when it comes
time to perform.
Everybody — Brock, Carrie, and
the rest of the players and coaches —
agrees these people eat, sleep, live
and party as one.
The unity of the players makes
the softball experience more fun for
Carrie.
“I like it because we’re a team,”
she says. “You don’t get that very of
ten. Most of us are friends. We run
around together.”
She even lives with her battery
partner, pitcher Julie Carpenter.
That’s how close the game is to her.
But it can’t last forever. Even
tually her eligibility will run out and
Carrie will bejust another student.
But completion of eligibility
doesn’t mean an exhaustion of inter
est. Both of the seniors from last
year’s team — Shawn Andaya and
Judy Trussell — have returned to
the team this year as student assis
tants to Brock.
Carrie has some interest in coach
ing — her summer in Australia will
be as a player-coach — but she says
she doesn’t think her career lies
there.
So it remains that she’s spending
hours and hours every day in what
most people would consider a “dead
end” pursuit. But everyone has to
have their hobbies.
Carrie’s happen to be in the enter
tainment business: she makes her
fans happy.
She says it is a little discouraging
that there aren’t as many softball
fans as there are fans of “bigger”
varsity sports. But she doesn’t resent
that, and in a way she understands
that that is the way it always will be.
“Men’s athletics is such a big deal,”
she says. “There’s professional foot
ball, professional basketball, ... I
know personally I’d rather go watch
Aggie baseball team
opens season today
Opening day is finally here for
the sixth-ranked Texas A&M
baseball team as it plays a single
game with Lubbock Christian to
day at 3, and a doubleheader at 1
Saturday afternoon against the
Chaparrals.
All the action takes place at Ol
sen Field.
Today’s game begins an eight-
game homestand for the Aggies.
A&M will play a doubleheader
against Southwest Texas State
Tuesday Feb. 16, and a three-
game series with the University of
New Orleans next weekend.
A&M finished 44-22-1 last year
and missed the College World Se
ries by one game, losing 11-9 to
eventual national runner-up Ok
lahoma State in the Mideast Re
gional in Starkville, Miss.
The Chaparrals were 44-29 last
year and finished third in the Na
tional Association of Intercolle
giate Athletics playoffs last year.
They are off to an 0-2 start after
losing a doubleheader to Baylor
Wednesday.
A&M’s Sean Snedeker will take
the mound in today’s game, while
Nick Felix and Randy Pryor will
handle the pitching chores in the
doubleheader Saturday.
Men’s, women’s swim teams
to wrap up dual meet season
The Texas A&M men’s and wom
en’s swimming teams will face their
final dual meets of the season when
they take on Texas and Louisiana
State here this weekend at the P.L.
Downs Natatorium.
The Aggies swim against Texas
today, with the men’s 1000-meter
freestyle race beginning at 5 p.m.,
and all other events beginning at 6.
The teams will face LSU Saturday at
1 p.m.
The UT women’s team comes into
the match ranked No. 2 nationally, a
ranking that’s likely to improve after
the team knocked off top-ranked
Stanford 90-50 last weekend, and
the Lady Longhorns have won 18
consecutive matches dating back to
February 1986.
A&M Coach Mel Nash said he
hopes his teams will be up to the
challenge.
“Both teams are nationally ran
ked,” he said. “This will help us tune
up for the conference meets, and we
should start seeing some faster
times.”
Basketball teams face Bears
Saturday in G. Rollie White
Ji.
Mgr
See Softball page 14
Both Texas A&M basketball
teams will return to action Saturday
when they play Baylor at G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
The A&M women’s team will take
the floor first in a 2 p.m. game, and
the men’s team will play at 7:30 p.m.
The Lady Aggies, 10-9 overall
and 4-5 in the Southwest Confer
ence, lost to Creighton 75-71 last
Wednesday in Omaha, Neb. Coach
Shelby Metcalfs men’s team is 13-10
and 5-4 in the SWC after a 94-71 loss
to Southern Methodist in Dallas.
Women’s coach Lynn Hickey said
Saturday’s game is a must-win situa
tion for A&M.
“This is a ‘have-to’ win for us,” she
said. “If we’re going to have the op
portunity to play in the conference
tournament, we have to take this
game.”
9®?
Sometimes good looks
can improve your grades.
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