Southwest grad helps La Sierra to historic season
Despite Universitybeing recruitedas a catcher,by La SierraEl Centro native Taylor Ross spent her freshman season playing the shortstop position for the NAIA Division I Golden Eagles.
The 2015 Southwest High School graduate earned 38 starts and appeared in 41 games for the Golden Eagles, who finished third in the California Pacific Conference this season.
“It was really exciting,” said Ross of her freshman season. “This was the year we broke our softball record and recorded the most wins in a season. It was also fun getting to know my teammates and it makes me excited to go back to try and win conference next year.”
The Golden Eagles finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 20-202 and a conference record of 9-11.
While breaking into the starting lineup as a true freshman is already an accomplishment, Ross made the most of her time on the field this season on offense and defense and for her efforts was named to the 2016 All-California Pacific Conference Softball Team.
“I actually didn’t know about it right away,” Ross said with a laugh. “My mom was the one who told me and it really caught me off guard because I was just a freshman. It’s really rewarding because it’s the other coaches that put in votes for you.”
Ross was one of three Golden Eagles to make the list and one of four freshman to be named to the all-conference team.
Offensively, the righthander finished the season with a .345 batting average, collected 38 hits and 21 RBIs striking out just nine times and also stealing seven bases in eight attempts.
Ross said she was happy with her first season stats, as there is a lot of scouting done at the college level.
“The other schools know what your Ross weaknesses are and they know your stats and how to pitch to you,” she said.
On defense, Ross finished with a .891 fielding percentage and tallied 42 putouts and 89 assists.
As this was Ross’ freshman season, she said it was a bit nerve-wracking at first to take on the important role of the starting shortstop.
“You have to know what’s going on around you and you’re like the captain of the infield so you have to be talking more,” Ross explained. “You’re really in the middle of everything and that’s really exciting. It was a little weird in the beginning because some of my teammates are older, but after just a few weeks of knowing them, they expected me to take that leadership role anyways because I was the shortstop.”
In addition to her skills on the field, Ross worked to maintain a 4.0 GPA in the classroom and said her entire freshman year made her look forward to returning to Riverside in the fall.
“I think I enjoyed meeting my team the most,” Ross said. “We meshed really well and being a part of that is really exciting. Making history was really fun too. I’m excited to hopefully win conference next year. We know what we need to work on to get better and I think with more work we’ll get there.”
Sports Writer Karina Lopez can be reached at 760-337-3434 or klopez@ivpressonline.com