It’s been a long road, and Bears hope it gets longer
For most of the Cal softball players, Wednesday’s agenda started at 2 a.m. — a wake-up call that allowed them to get to campus by 3:30, jump on a 6:20 flight to Atlanta and ride a bus through traffic for nearly two hours on the way to Athens, Ga.
“I didn’t even sleep,” junior pitcher Kamalani Dung said, “but it’ll all be worth it Friday.”
The Bears open NCAA regional play against Northwestern at 9 a.m. Friday, the first step in a postseason journey they hope will mirror the trek to get there — an arduous path with a rewarding finish.
Cal (34-19) will have to advance from a pod that includes Northwestern (36-17), Harvard (24-16) and the seventh overall seed, Georgia (43-11), to get to the super regionals, and the Bears are thinking even bigger.
“We know what we can do,” Dung said. “We have the talent. If we get some things to fall our way, we can go really far.”
Cal’s aspirations might not be outlandish.
The Bears went 27-3 in nonconference play and showed well against a loaded conference slate that includes four of the top six teams in the country. Cal outscored opponents by 114 runs and limited opponents to a .218 batting average.
Plus, the Bears might have a little providence on their side.
After Cal lost its final regular-season game to No. 1 Oregon on Saturday, head coach Diane Ninemire flipped some sad faces by reminding the players that the 2002 national championship team also lost 19 games.
“Maybe that’s our lucky number,” Ninemire joked.
Coaching her 30th season in Berkeley and having compiled more than 1,300 wins, Ninemire seems to have an anecdote for every situation.
She was there during seven straight trips (1999-2005) to the College World Series,
including the cheers of a small contingent of Cal fans beating back a flood of Florida State fans doing the school’s “war chant” during a stunning win in 2002.
She was there when Cal hosted its first regional and Super Regional in 2012.
“I’m the luckiest person in the world,” Ninemire said. “I used to always behave in school, so I could get extended recess. Now, I feel like I’m on permanent recess.”
The NFCA Hall of Famer has won two national Coach of the Year honors and tutored 19 All-America players. She’s had more than 160 allconference players, including Lindsay Rood (.339), Jazmyn Jackson (.326) and Bradie Fillmore (.276) this season.
But Cal’s strength might be its pitching, which includes Dung, who threw a perfect game against UTEP this season, and Zoe Conley, who set a school record with seven saves.
“My dad always says: ‘Diamonds are formed under pressure,’ ” Conley said. “I think we’re all capable of performing under pressure.”