If such a thing as a blueprint for stopping Neena Bryant exists, it would likely have more to do with playlists and bracelets than hitting tendencies or scouting reports.
It’s because Bryant, a junior centerfielder who says she doesn’t take herself very seriously on the softball diamond, is dead serious when it comes to following the same routine before every game.
Lucky bracelet? Check. A special three-song playlist on her iPod? You bet. Right batting glove on before the left? That too.
Some might call her superstitious. Others might say, after the kind of numbers she’s posted during her Oregon career, she would be crazy to even think about changing her routine.
“She has to have these things,” said junior infielder Hannah Barril, a roommate of Bryant’s since their freshman year.
Following through with her pregame rituals helps Bryant get comfortable to play, and the results have backed up their success. Bryant was one of 50 players to begin the season on the USA Softball Preseason Player of the Year watch list in January after her second-team All-Pacific-10 honors from a year ago. In her career, Bryant has broken into the school’s single-season top-10 list for doubles, home runs, extra-base hits, total bases.
“It was really shocking to seem my name on it whereas there are other people on there who I would definitely put ahead of myself,” she said, admitting there was a brief moment where she thought her name on the list was a typo.
Last season, she led Oregon in five offensive categories – including her 10 home runs and .330 average – and was second in three more.
For all the talk of her offense, she says it is her defense that comes most naturally to her.
“It’s just something that I can jump into and feel completely comfortable and confident with,” she said. “Although with hitting you can fall into those slumps, I felt like defensively, it’s never been that much of an issue.”
While Oregon (6-12) has committed 31 errors on the season, four more than its opponents, Bryant has a perfect fielding percentage this season with zero errors and four assists, one of five Ducks without an error all year.
Speed is the difference for Bryant, Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said.
“I don’t think people realize how well she runs,” said Arendsen, in her seventh season as head coach. “She’s also without a doubt one of the best defensive outfielders in our conference let alone our country.”
At the plate, it’s much the same story, leading UO with a .357 average with 11 RBI, second-best on the team, and has 13 stolen bases in 13 attempts.
After how she’s played this season, she’s not changing her routine for anything.
The bracelet and the batting gloves never change, although the three songs she plays before each game can change if she’s in a slump.
“Just whatever seems to be working,” Bryant said.
“Her music is something she always has to do,” Barril said.
All that success has meant a lot of fun for Bryant. But with ever-higher goals for herself and the expectations from the Player of the Year distinction now tagged onto her name, there have been times this season when she has barely resembled her usual self.
Turns out, Arendsen has found a simple message to help her top fielder and slugger: have fun.
“There are times when I feel the pressure of the world on my back and stuff so it’s definitely reassuring to hear simple words,” Bryant said.
Arendsen takes a big picture approach to softball, and believes those who play loose play better.
“It’s a game – it’s not life,” Arendsen said. “Sometimes you get in a slump and you get so bogged down with frustration and tension you no longer have fun. With Neena, she is a perfectionist and she has high goals for herself.”
Winning also helps allay any frustrations, but as usual, another brutal Pac-10 Conference schedule awaits Oregon starting March 21 at Oregon State. In the latest USA Today/NFCA top-25 rankings, six Pac-10 teams are slotted in the top 13 spots, with a combined record of 100-14.
Finishing the non-conference portion of the schedule is key for any momentum Oregon will carry into its first league series as the Ducks try to reach their third straight NCAA tournament.
“Oh definitely the more momentum we get going into the Pac-10 season is definitely going to support success,” Bryant said. “In the Pac-10 it’s just challenges after challenges.”
Challenges she can’t wait to meet. That is, after she finishes her routine.
[email protected]