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Turnaround: Tani yields record-setting season for FHSU softball
4/26/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
At Arvada (Col.) West, Sara Tani decided to change from a right-handed swinging-away hitter to a left-handed slapper.
"It was something that I felt I needed to do as far as hitting the ball better, seeing the ball better," she said.
Tani signed with Fort Hays State University and was the Tigers' starting centerfielder as a freshman. Slapping, a tactic that generally just one player on each team uses, was a struggle for Tani. She started nearly every game and batted .199 with just four doubles and 28 hits. A year later, helped by first-year coach Julie LeMaire, Tani has transformed her game, and yielded one of the best offensive seasons in Fort Hays history.
"With a lot of practice and a lot of good coaching, I have got it under control," she said. "I feel like this year, I have improved so much this year from last year that it's not even funny."
Tani, who leads the surprising Tigers with a .349 average, has already set one school record and could hold several more by year's end. Fort Hays' leadoff hitter, Tani broke the mark for single season at-bats Friday against Emporia State University. She now has 218, eight more than Carrie Cassida in 2001.
Tani's 76 hits are second on the all-time list and four off the single season mark. Her 14 doubles are tied for fifth and she is tied for ninth in runs with 35. Her batting average is just off the top-10 list. (all records since the Tigers renewed the program in 1999).
"I just think Tani needs somebody to push her and to believe in her at the same time and I think that is something that we have definitely opened the door for her on," LeMaire said. "She has got the tools, she has got the mechanics, we have been working with her a lot."
The Tigers lost seven of its top eight hitters, including All-American Jessika Anastos, off a team that set the school record for batting average (.302) and won 32 games. Fort Hays was picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll.
Helped by Tani and a host of Tigers that saw little time in 2008, including senior Alex Eaton and sophomore Chelsea Luther, Fort Hays is 29-30, the sixth most wins in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association. They have scored 269 runs and could break the team record of 272 runs set in 2007.
"This has actually been a really good year has far as transition wise," LeMaire said.
No player, though, has seen the increase that Tani has produced.
"Sara Tani is one of our top kids right now and in terms of her numbers last year, you would never would have seen that she has the potential that she is at right now," LeMaire said.
However, Tani hits differently than many slappers, hitters that move their feet while in the batters' box and move toward the pitcher and first base line when they swing. Slappers are normally "speed slappers," fast players who have little power and often beat out infield hits. Truman State (Mo.) University outfielder Christen Belcher, the 2008 MIAA MVP, was a speed slapper. Fifty-six of her 64 hits were singles and she stole 42 bases.
Tani, who has six steals and 17 extra base hits, is what LeMaire labels a "power slapper." Tani tries to hit line drives to the outfield and extra-base hits instead of trying to beat out infield ground balls.
"For her, our object is to hit the outside corner hard, not just tap it and run," LeMaire said. "It is not effective for her to be pulling out. That is something that we have really been putting a lot of emphasis on."
At first, Tani struggled with staying inside the ball on an outside pitch and moving straight towards the pitcher.
"Getting the bat on the outside part of the plate is one of the hardest things that I struggle with," she said.
The problems produced just 28 hits in 2008 under former coach Tonja Hadley. With LeMaire, Tani has also received a confidence boost and a positive approach.
"Just believing in her and telling her that we think that she has it," LeMaire said. "We think that it has made a huge difference in her because she is someone that when you get on her, she is going to rise up and do it for you, that is huge, rather than crumbling."
Helped by the confidence and changes, Tani has been able to use the whole field and hit with more power. She has been consistent all season, collecting at least one hit in 51 of 59 games. After the first game of the season, her average has not slipped below .315.
In midseason, Tani hit safely in 23 of 24 games, a stretch that concluded with a 4-for-8 showing against a ranked University of Nebraska-Omaha squad.
"UNO was probably a time when I felt most like in the zone," she said. "I felt like I was seeing the ball really well against her and I was being selective with the pitches that I was seeing and hitting the ball hard, I felt like I was doing well."
Last week, in two home dates against Newman University and Missouri Southern State University, Tani had hits to all fields, including a double to left center, a infield single to third base, a single up the middle and two hits to right-center versus Newman. Tani also made a critical, running over-the-shoulder catch versus Newman that saved a run, another big play in a turnaround season.
"Huge change for her," LeMaire said. "It's great."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |