A Bruin blueprint: Versatile softball team equipped for 2014

The pieces that make up the UCLA softball roster may be different this year, but the team blueprint is exactly the same.

UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez conveniently makes an acronym for her team’s building schedule using the word “Bruins” throughout the season, which will begin on Feb. 6.

“I spell out the season, ‘Bruins,'” Inouye-Perez said. “‘B’ is building our foundation in the fall, weights, school, cardio, you know all of those foundation pieces. ‘R’ is respect the program over (winter) break (and) continue to work out. We’re in the ‘U’ phase right now, and that is team unity.”

One of the team’s uniting pieces last season was center fielder B.B. Bates, who led the team with a batting average of .374, 25 home runs and 74 RBI. Bates’ graduation last spring would appear on paper to be fatal to the Bruins’ chances in 2014. But Inouye-Perez’s blueprint was formed to specifically compensate for such losses.

“Different people step into different roles every year,” Inouye-Perez said. “B.B. Bates was a big part of our arsenal, as were players the year before and the year before … A big part of our program is that there is always impactful players, and when they graduate, there are new Bruins that step into their shoes to fill roles.”

According to Inouye-Perez, only three position players have solidified their positions in the starting lineup for the season opener, with only the pitching rotation remaining entirely the same as last year. Inouye-Perez, however sees the uncertainty as an asset, pointing to the versatility of her roster.

Filling the void Bates left in center field will be freshman Gabrielle Maurice, whose mind is dead-set on picking up right where Bates left off.

“We are using this term ‘one shot, one kill’ and it just kind of symbolizes just the opportunity and the way that you can either take advantage of it, or you can just let it slip on by,” Maurice said.

While freshmen such as Maurice and shortstop Delaney Spaulding are stepping into new roles, even established veterans are changing their roles in order to fit the team’s needs.

Junior Stephany LaRosa, who led the team with 74 hits and 200 at-bats last season, will make the difficult switch from shortstop to catcher for the 2014 campaign.

“I think any position in general, just being an athlete, you have to be conditioned for,” LaRosa said. “My body is not taking (the position change) too hard, but, yeah, it is a new position and I’m looking forward to it.”

LaRosa fits the mold of the prototypical Bruin softball player – one who is versatile and selfless.

“The history of the program is (that) we recruit great athletes that are willing to be a part of whatever it takes to make this program successful,” Inouye-Perez said. “So we’ve historically have had people play different positions from their freshman year to their senior year. So this year is not really unique to that.”

While certain parts of this year’s softball team aren’t entirely unique from previous years’ teams, there are other characteristics that set this team apart.

“This year I believe we have more speed than we did last year,” Inouye-Perez said. “So I believe we’ll be able to be a little bit more aggressive (and) try to figure out how to manufacture runs and put pressure on the defense.”

The words “figure out” underscore the fact that 2014 will be a learning experience for every member of the Bruins team, from the freshmen to the seniors.

“The season is not about wins, losses or playing perfect – it’s about learning,”Inouye-Perez said. “As long as we can learn quickly, figure out how (to) work together as a unit with people in various positions, then we’re going to build momentum to be the best team that we can be when it matters most.”

The learning curve begins in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb. 6, when the Bruins face Delaware in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic.