With a quick snatch of her glove and slumping of her shoulders, it’s easy to tell that she is upset with the call.
She puts her hands on her hips, kicks at the dirt and stares a hole through the umpire.
And then, in the next second, she takes a deep breath and composes herself before quickly firing another laser past the opposing hitter.
“I’m real intense out there and I want to win,” freshman pitcher Andrea Vidlund said. “In order to win you have to be focused 100 percent.”
That intensity garnered Vidlund some pretty high accolades in high school.
As Northern California Player of the Year and second-team All-America at Orangevale High School, she was accustomed to getting the majority of the close calls.
But Vidlund also knew that she was coming into the best conference in collegiate softball, and that she was going to have to step up her game to contribute to the No. 16 Ducks (33-22 overall, 5-10 Pacific-10 Conference).
“I had no idea that it was going to be as intense as it is,” the Sacramento native said. “I didn’t realize that coming in.”
Tough conference or not, Vidlund has had her way with most of the best hitters in the nation. She’s amassed a team-best record of 16-6 and is right behind sophomore Connie McMurren in earned run average at 1.93.
She has done it all while making a transition from a power-pitcher to a finesse-pitcher, a transformation she has taken on with the same intensity that she used to mow down hitters, said pitching coach Tom Royder.
“You have to put your ego aside. I know it’s fun to strike someone out, but you have to change your mental approach to get the same satisfaction out of getting a ground-ball out. She’s been working hard at that and has seen some success.”
Throughout the first half of the conference slate, Vidlund has bettered some great opponents, including this weekend’s opponent, No. 10 Stanford. She gave up only one hit in 2 1/3 innings of work the last time Oregon met the Cardinal. According to McMurren, Vidlund had improved a great deal from when Stanford saw her last.
“Lately she’s been keeping her composure a lot better,” McMurren said. “She has always had the physical tools, she just became more mentally tough.”
Inside the circle is not the only place where Vidlund makes her presence felt. She is also a part-time left fielder and swings a respectable bat.
Vidlund has not only reached the expectations of her teammates and coaches, but she has surpassed them by far, Royder said. She has stepped in and provided a nice two-punch behind staff ace McMurren, consistently throwing complete games and holding the other teams at bay.
Royder says that he sees a bright future ahead for the freshman. And that means that opponents may have their hands full with Vidlund for the next three years.
“There were high expectations for her coming in as the California Player of the Year,” Royder said. “And she has met them.
“The exciting thing about Andrea is that she is just beginning [to show] what she can do at this level. If she keeps this level of development up, she can be one of the best players to play here.”