After being part of the team that made it all the way to the Women’s College World Series last year, Sammie Puentes returns to Eugene to begin her sophomore season and battle with Danica Mercado to earn the position of Oregon’s starting second baseman.
Puentes, a Hollister, California native, recently sat down with the Emerald and answered some questions about summer, softball and life in general.
Ryan Kostecka: First off, how was your summer? What did you do?
Sammie Puentes: To start, I had summer school, so I was here (in Eugene) and then after summer school was done, I went back home and hung out with family for the most part. I worked out a lot with my dad because he’s a personal trainer and just practiced softball. I’m more of a laid-back kind of person — so I don’t really like going out, I’d rather stay at home with the family and stuff like that.
Kostecka: So, do you have a big family?
Puentes: No, that’s the thing. It’s weird. When I was back home it’s just my sister and my mom so I spent time with them and I’d hang out with our animals a lot. I have two dogs: Boss and Orlando.
Kostecka: From a softball standpoint, what are you expecting to happen your sophomore year?
Puentes: We lost three good players from last year and now have six incoming people — so I think they bring a lot to the table, a lot to the team this year. They make everybody more on your toes this year because it’s more of a competition — it’s good for all of us so I have a really good feeling about this year.
Kostecka: A couple weeks ago, you girls went through two-a-days, hell week is what you call it. How’s the chemistry so far with the newcomers?
Puentes: It’s great actually. With all the new girls, I was thinking “uh-oh” with like tension because that’s just the way girls can be with a lot of drama, but so far it’s been awesome. For example, today, our teammate Hailey (Decker) passed out doing this conditioning test, so the trainers checked her out and she had to go to the doctors. The whole team got together, held hands and prayed for her. There’s just a lot of team chemistry and we just have so much love for each other. Last year we were missing that a bit, but now we are like sisters. It’s like a big family.
Kostecka: So I heard that your boyfriend is Cal’s starting middle linebacker Michael Barton — what’s that like with you two at rival schools?
Puentes: It’s interesting because I don’t know who to root for. I don’t want to root for Cal because I go here and have a lot of friends on the football team. I think I’m just going to root for him and root for Oregon to win. Hopefully Oregon wins; I don’t want Cal to win at all. We made a bet, actually, that if Cal beats Oregon, I have to wear Cal stuff for a week here at school and if Oregon beats Cal, he has to wear Oregon stuff for a week.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka