Melissa Rice searches the mound for a solitary clump of dirt to kick. A small plume of dust scatters into the air after she digs her toe into the back of the mound. Rice returns to the hill, forgetting about the last pitch she threw and intent on hitting her mark with the next.
Rice, a freshman pitcher for the Oregon softball team, kicks at the dirt in between pitches and breathes rhythmically in an effort to refocus on the next pitch.
“I kick the dirt around quite a bit,” Rice said. “That’s kind of my way of relaxing, taking a breath.”
Rice says she is best known for being composed and that she often sports a poker-face on the mound. While focus and composure aren’t words normally associated with first-year players, most freshmen
don’t make as much of an impact on their team as Rice.
Of the four pitchers on the Oregon roster, Rice is the only one who has been available to play each time the team takes the field. Every game, she is either in the dugout or on the mound, trying to read the next batter and learn her mannerisms.
“I think she has shown remarkable resilience as a freshman,” Oregon coach Kathy Arendsen said. “None of us, including her, foresaw her having to carry this big of a role for us, but she’s really stepped up and played well. I think it really says a lot about your character and gives us a great look at the future.”
Rice has taken care of her body throughout a strenuous season, but it is the mental aspect that is perhaps the most important to her. A great softball pitcher is always learning and has to continuously concentrate on calming herself down and working through the mechanical issues, Rice said.
“A lot of the time I work through ‘get over on my drop ball’ or just mechanical stuff through my head,” she said referring to the moments after she gives up a big hit. “Just kind of breaking everything down mentally so I can go at the next hitter and just control the next hitter.
“I think it is a definite advantage for any pitcher, being able to forget what just happened and just focus on the next thing. If you let that double get in your head, then the next pitch you are just going to be fighting yourself to try to make the pitch and not give a double.”
Through Sunday’s game against No. 1 UCLA, less than 28 percent of the hits Rice has allowed have been for extra bases. She also has a 2.78 ERA, second on the team behind senior Amy Harris.
“I think it’s a really big key out on the mound, just not to let anything get to you,” Harris said. “If you are getting strikeouts it is the same thing as if they are hitting balls off of you. You can’t show emotion out there. You can’t let anyone get to you, good or bad. It’s going to be a big thing for her, keeping that composure. You’ve just got to keep your emotions level.”
While keeping her emotions in check is an area that Rice feels she thrives in, four years ago it was her downfall.
“My freshman year in high school I kind of struggled with it, coming in and being one of the pitchers on varsity,” Rice said. “I was kind of a headcase. My high school coach just gave me a bunch of readings and talked to me about the mental side of pitching. That’s where I kind of learned it and I’ve developed it immensely.”
The pressure of stepping up to arguably the best Division I softball conference (all eight teams except Oregon are ranked in the top 15 of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll) wasn’t the most challenging aspect of this season for Rice. At one point in the season, she was the only available pitcher and despite her belief that she could make it through a weekend of games, Arendsen pulled the Ducks from the 2006 National Invitational Softball Tournament in early March.
“Physically it wasn’t any stretch for me because I’ve thrown quite a bit in the past,” Rice said of shouldering the pitching burden. “Especially at this level, it was difficult mentally because it’s obviously the Pac-10. I didn’t really know what to expect.”
Harris, who has missed a multitude of games this season because of a shoulder injury, has been impressed with how well Rice kept her composure and stepped up to the plate.
“I think she handled it really well,” Harris said. “A lot of people would have buckled under that and got really stressed out and scared, but not her. She came in, she knew what she had to do and she got it done. Even if she had a rough outing she kind of bounced back and came back stronger than that.”
Against Portland State in the Ducks’ home opener March 15, Rice allowed five runs, including two each in the sixth and seventh innings. Oregon won in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run single, but after the game the conversation was about Rice. While she struggled in the final two innings, there were no other options, so Rice simply had to suck it up and get outs.
“I think she’s going to be hopefully an ace in our program,” Arendsen said. “I think in some ways you can argue she is right now. We rely on her; we count on her. She’s given us some incredible, incredible performances for a freshman coming from a smaller school in Washington.”
Arendsen emphasized effort, poise and the way she “bounces back from adversity” as key elements to Rice’s game and development in her short time at Oregon.
“She doesn’t get too high; she doesn’t get too low,” Arendsen said. “That’s a good sign.
Eventually, Harris’ injury subsided – for a time – and Alicia Cook and Elise Orange returned to the mound for the Ducks.
However, whether it is the only option on the mound or fighting to find innings, the one thing that has remained the same for the pitching staff is Rice’s role.
“She’s positive whether she gets a start or not. She’s going to be there for her teammates. She’s not going to get down if she doesn’t get the start. She knows her role and she accepts it,” Harris said of Rice. “That’s hard for a lot of people. Once you start a lot of games and then you have some players come back and you’re not starting quite as many games, it is really hard for a lot of people to understand that and get down. She accepts it really well and she’s a great teammate.”
Rice has also learned from her teammates’ troubles that staying healthy and prioritizing school are necessary to have a successful career. Rice, whose parents are both teachers, has always placed school as the top priority and devoutly believes in taking care of her body.
Rice prioritizes academics, softball and health in that order. Once schoolwork is complete, she often heads to the gym to focus on legs and cardio.
“The legs are the main part of the pitch so you have to have those in shape,” she said. “(I learned to) Keep everything in line. To keep mainly just healthy, to keep my body in shape and my arm decent.”
Eating healthy and getting a solid block of sleep each night are key as well as stretching before and after workouts and making sure to get treatment whenever she is sore, Rice said.
But don’t let the 5-foot-8 blonde with the innocent smile fool you. In her rebel days, Rice would head over to the Super Wal-Mart in her hometown of Colville, Wash., to cause ruckus.
“We’d kind of do all we could to get kicked out,” Rice joked. “Played with the little kid toys, riding the bikes around. Super Wal-Mart was a big thing in Colville.”
In the end, an outgoing personality and positive voice overrule any motive for ruffling any feathers.
“I just kind of want to be known as a positive person that influenced a great team,” Rice said. “That’s pretty much one of my big roles on the team – keep positive and do my job.”
To pitch or to spike?
Oregon almost didn’t land Rice. During her junior year of high school, she thought volleyball might be her future.
“I was actually pretty undecided what one I wanted to pursue my junior year,” said Rice, who played three years of varsity volleyball as well as four in basketball. “I kind of just wrote down things that kind of everything about each sport th
at I liked or disliked and whether it’s for me or not. I was kind of leaning toward volleyball at Eastern Washington University, but I decided that wasn’t for me.”
That decision wasn’t easy, according to her high school softball coach, Clyde Brown.
“I think it was a really tough decision. It was tough in a couple of ways,” said Brown, who recently retired after 25 years of coaching. “One is, in volleyball she was one of the stronger players on that team. I think that decision weighed heavily on her. Here she’s got her teammates coming back and she’s an intricate part of that team and program and the success of the three previous years in the volleyball program.”
“And then, where she was going to fit at the next level of volleyball. I’m not versed enough to say, ‘Gosh, yeah, she’s definitely a Division I volleyball player.’ But she definitely was a next-level volleyball player somewhere.”
Rice said that volleyball wasn’t one of her biggest interests and she had to work harder for success in volleyball than softball.
“In high school it is kind of hard to find your true love in sports if you are playing three or four at a time,” she said. “While you are in the season you enjoy it, but I kind of had to step back and realize that softball I enjoyed year-round. And I didn’t dislike it as much as the other sports.
“Volleyball, it just didn’t come as natural to me.”
No matter the outcome, Brown said he was impressed with her maturity in the process and supported the decision.
“To sit down and make a tough decision like that and then be comfortable with it, again, that’s another sign of her character,” Brown said. “She was a good varsity player in all three sports. She just blossomed on the mound.”
Rice earned three Great Northern League MVP awards and was also a two-time first-team all-state pitcher.
Can I get your autograph?
She hasn’t asked for an autograph from any fellow pitchers, but Rice was excited to face some of her counterparts once she donned an Oregon uniform.
“Coming in here I was kind of starstruck when I first saw Cat Osterman, (Brianne) McGowan, (Alicia) Hollowell and all of them,” Rice said of several top Division I pitchers. “They are great pitchers. I am watching them just as much as I am trying to pick up little things.”
Rice entered in relief against Oregon State and McGowan on April 4. Trailing by two runs, Rice allowed only three hits and at one point retired 13 straight batters. While the Ducks lost the game 2-0, it wasn’t from a lack of effort by Rice.
“Pitching-wise, I think I threw the best game against them,” Rice said.
Although it has only been a glimpse, Rice has been introduced to the in-state rivalry that becomes more bitter than Barry Bonds in each new interview.
“It’s kind of hard because I am a freshman. I haven’t got the entire feel,” she said. “I’ve only had one game of the Civil War under my belt. But I’m sure that it will grow.”
That opportunity continues today as Oregon travels north to face No. 9 Oregon State (33-7 overall, 5-4 Pacific-10 Conference) in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Setting the tone
Rice has a profound belief that music can set the tone for anything. Whether it is to pump her up before a game or calm her down following a loss, Rice relies on music.
“I kind of depend on music more than usual with other people,” she said. “I use it to prep me mentally or to forget about something after a game.”
For pregame Rice has a set playlist to “mentally relax,” which is mostly by artists such as Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley and Ben Harper. She also likes hip hop or pop to get amped, but uses “girly music” – slow songs – to relax after a loss.
Rice’s father taught choral music, and she grew up singing in choir. She also plays the piano in a family she says is “really musical.”
“I’ve just kind of been raised around it,” Rice said. “It’s just a huge part of my life I guess.”
Don’t use the “F” word
Forget about cursing – the “F” word to Rice is freshman. She doesn’t classify herself with that title and definitely won’t allow herself to be lumped into a group that has a reputation for being mistake-prone.
“I just have to forget that I am a freshman when I’m out on the mound,” Rice said. “And just forget that everyone is saying ‘Oh, she’s just a freshman. She’s not used to this.’ Just kind of forget that I’m a freshman and just throw.
“It’s kind of what I have to do. I can’t get caught up in ‘I’m a freshman’ or whatever. I don’t really think about it. Honestly, I just think of every batter so it just naturally goes out of my mind that I am a freshman.”
While she won’t term herself as a freshman, Rice acknowledges that there are certain aspects of her game that she needs to improve.
“Definitely mechanics – breaking down every pitch and getting more spin on it or getting better with my location,” Rice said. “Becoming smarter with every pitch.”
Smartness is key in pitching, but it is also the first thing she learned about Division I hitters. They are smarter and have better technique than any high-schooler that had stood in the batter’s box opposite of her, Rice said.
“In high school I could kind of get away with missing a spot,” she said. “Here, if I miss a spot they are going to hit it.”
She learned that lesson with her first appearance against a Pac-10 opponent when she faced an Oregon State batter last summer as a member of a Gold squad, which competes in the premier softball travel level. That hitter slapped a double and Rice knew that was only the beginning. She has also received advice from pitchers that have been where she has, including Harris.
“I talked with Melissa and I told her … work really hard over the summers and use every opportunity you’ve been given. Just really appreciate your opportunities and everything,” Harris said. “She’s been very successful just as a freshman. She has a way of just making them hit the ground ball and getting outs. Build each year and – who knows? – the sky is the limit.
Arendsen is also excited about the future and the diamond in the rough that she discovered in Colville.
“I like Melissa Rice. I like the person she is, I like the player she is,” Arendsen said. “I think she’s going to continue to keep getting better and better. She’s got a great desire to improve her game.”
Eliminating words such as “freshman” and highlighting the words “focus” and “desire” has created a dynamic vocabulary that is second only to her talent on the mound. Should the future pan out in any shape as the most recent months have, Rice will leave that positive mark on an Oregon program that can potentially boast of a national championship or an All-American pitcher.
