Breanne Sabol wasn’t sure what to expect when she finally packed her bags to move to Eugene in the summer of 2002 to play softball for the Ducks.
When Sabol was originally recruited to play at Oregon, Rick Gamez was the head coach. Shortly after she signed her letter of intent with the Ducks, Gamez resigned amid a scandal, leaving first-year assistant coach Brent Rincon — hired two months previously — in charge of the program. It also left Sabol wondering if she still had her scholarship.
As the year went on, Sabol was reassured that she had her scholarship, and as she started to get ready to move to Eugene in July 2002, Oregon announced that Kathy Arendsen would take over as head coach of the softball program.
“I knew nothing about Coach A or (Assistant) Coach (Mike) White or (Assistant) Coach J (Gaudreau),” Sabol said. “It wasn’t scary, but I hadn’t seen them until I actually came up here my first day that I had to report. It was a little nerve-racking because I hadn’t met them and I wasn’t playing summer ball where they could go watch me play.
“It was scary at first (when Gamez left), but then everything worked out.”
And it did work out in the end. After the expected adjustment period for players and the new coaches passed, Sabol stepped right into the shortstop role and relinquished it just once during her freshman season, starting 55 of Oregon’s 56 games in 2003.
“I figured she was going to have a pretty big role (when I saw her in her first practices),” Arendsen said. “She’s a gifted player. I had trouble understanding her. I didn’t read her very well and it was not the easiest transition. I think we’ve all grown since then.”
Sabol has grown into the Ducks’ starting shortstop for her second season as well, providing the Ducks with a strong arm and a quick reaction time that is key for a middle infielder.
The Southern California native’s strength is her defense. Sabol has a range that amazes some opponents, racing to the other side of second base to routinely field balls for an out at first.
“Defensively, she’s consistent,” Arendsen said. “She’s pretty brilliant with great range. She gets to balls that many players can’t get to.”
Sabol, who committed 22 errors during the season as a freshman, has cut that number to 12 so far this season for a .943 fielding percentage. She is part of the Ducks’ league-leading 29 double plays.
The sophomore spent time during the off-season working on her hitting, something she struggled with during her freshman season. After hitting .179 last year, Sabol has improved by almost 100 points to bat .270 through Sunday, three points above the team’s average.
“I think she’s really starting to focus on softball after this last season,” Arendsen said. “I think she is starting to understand how talented she is and there’s a price you pay when you’re blessed with this much talent of commitment and dedication and I think that’s all really starting to click in for her. I think she’s just going to get better and better.”
Sabol is not the first in her family to showcase her athletic ability at Oregon. Her older brother Garrett Sabol played football for the Ducks from 1997 to 2000. He married former Duck volleyball player Amy Banducci.
Breanne Sabol had been on trips to Eugene since she was in middle school, when her family would come up for football games. She liked the weather — “I came in the fall, so it was never raining” — and the atmosphere and the distance, saying, “It was far enough but not too far.” Staying with her brother when she came for her recruiting visit helped Sabol decide on Oregon.
Now she’s making it her home. She has reigned over the shortstop role for two seasons and is most known for one thing within the team.
Sabol, a Britney Spears fan, said her at-bat song is Spears’ “Toxic,” her bat is named “Britney” and teammates tease her about being a fan.
“Britney Spears is supposed to be a teenage-idol type of person and you’re supposed to get over that before you get to college,” second baseman Erin Goodell said. “But (Sabol) wishes more than anything that she was Britney Spears; she thinks she looks like her, she wishes she could be her. It’s a huge joke on our team because she talks about her at least three times a day, so you can’t not make fun of it a little bit.”
Luckily, there are two sides to every story.
“I’ve never been to any of her concerts,” Sabol said. “But I like Britney Spears and I like her music. She came out when I was in eighth grade, so of course I kind of grew up with her. (The team) will joke with me because I actually like Britney Spears’ music and I’ll go out and buy her CDs and stuff.”
As long as Sabol is a good sport about Britney, she will be known for that. Oh, and for her stellar defense in her first two years on the field.